I enjoyed reading your recent article online (AS Daily, “Canadian Minister Defends Port Investment,” Oct. 18) regarding the West Coast unions and political interests attempting to use the Federal Maritime Commission to promote their protectionism agenda. Newsflash: Canada is a different country and your political influence ends at the border.
I believe that when the Panama Canal’s new lock gates swing open, there will be a sucking sound in the air and a vortex in the water as cargo drains from the California ports, through the Panama Canal and into the welcoming arms of the more business friendly Gulf Coast and East Coast ports.
By Stanley Riggs
president, Port Manatee Commerce Center
(a private business not affiliated with Port Manatee itself),
Palmetto, Fla.
Panama Canal’s ‘sucking sound’
