Another year, another drop in container traffic at Halifax port

The Port of Halifax has had another bad year, and the prospects for 2009 aren't any better.

Karen Oldfield, president of the Halifax Port Authority, said container business at the two piers was down about 20 per cent in 2008, marking the first time since 2000 that the port has handled fewer than 500,000 containers.

"We are looking at a significant decline this year," she told reporters after appearing before the legislature's committee on economic development Tuesday.

Oldfield said given the current economic climate, she wouldn't be surprised to see container traffic fall again in 2009.

Traffic is down for the third year in a row and the port is running at less than one-third capacity. There was a record number of cruise ship visits in 2008, though that only accounts for about 10 per cent of business at the port.

Despite the drop in container business, senior managers continue to collect bonuses.

Mark MacDonald, chair of the board at the port, said the bonuses are based on a manager's job performance, not simply the number of containers in one line of the port's business.

"We know what these people are doing. We know how hard they're working. And if anything, it may be harder in the business environment that they're dealing with," MacDonald said.

MacDonald didn't say how much senior officials received in bonuses, but said he expected them to earn their salary top-ups again this coming year.

According to the last financial statement filed in 2007, Oldfield made more than $250,000 a year in salary and bonus.

New Democrat MLA Carrie MacKinnon said given the port's poor performance and the bleak forecast, senior executives should look long and hard at what they're making.

"Certainly when we look at some of the salary levels, I think they either have to be capped or reduced," MacKinnon said.