A $3-Billion Port Expansion Argued in the Language of Sovereignty

A port expansion and railway upgrade on Hudson Bay carries a $3-billion price tag, and the case for it has been made in a different currency than traffic forecasts: a Hudson Bay shipping route, the framing goes, is essential for Canadian sovereignty. That is what makes the question CBC puts to Manitobans so pointed — why aren't Canada and Manitoba simply proceeding? Once sovereignty is the stated reason, the ordinary commercial test is no longer the thing doing the deciding. And a project described as essential that still isn't simply under way leaves the strategic argument carrying the whole load.