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10 PREAMBLE

The purpose of this brief is to introduce officials of the British Columbia
Government to the concept of an alternate transport route for carrying
asbestos fibre from Cassiar, B.C., to Vancouver for furtherance to world

markets.

Cassiar Asbestos Corporation Ltd. have proposed to route containerized
asbestos fibre by truck along the Cassiar-Stewart Highway to Stewart, British
Columbia. The containerized asbestos fibre, on reaching the Port of Stewart,
would be transshipped to RivTow Straits Ltd.'s tug and barge system and then
to Vancouver, where it would be loaded on deep-sea vessels destined for world

markets.

The proposed routing will not only provide transportation cost savings to
Cassiar Asbestos Corporation Ltd. and increased revenues to RivTow Straits Ltd.
but will also assist in the development of a north-western British Columbia
transportation system to serve the isolated communities in the north west,
while providing substantial economic benefits to the Province.

However, in order to provide the necessary transport cost savings to Cassiar
Asbestos Corporation Ltd., the proposed routing will require modification of
the existing provincial road weight limitation. This can be achieved by
the reclassification of the Cassiar-Stewart Highway to a Resource Road by —
the Department of Highways, Province of British Columbia, thereby enabling
higher weights to be hauled on the road.

Officials of Cassiar Asbestos Corporation Ltd. and RivTow Straits Ltd. met
with The Honourable Alex Fraser, Minister of Highways, The Honourable

Donald Phillips, Minister of Economic Development, and The Honourable

Jack Davis, Minister of Energy, Transportation and Communications, and offi-
cials of their respective departments, on August 15, 1977, to explain the
routing concept and to solicit the support of the British Columbia Government
for the required modifications to the road weight allowance on the Cassiar-

Stewart Highway.