The Thompson Regional Airport Authority (TRAA) has landed $8.7 million for safety and infrastructure improvements at the Thompson Airport, most notably the rehabilitation of the runway. The announcement was made on Aug. 11 by Vic Toews, minister of public safety, on behalf of newly-appointed Transport Minister Chuck Strahl, at the airport.
"For this community, the Thompson Airport is vital," Toews said. "Over the years that I've spent working back and forth between Winnipeg, Thompson, Flin Flon, Churchill, I've realized how important Thompson is, a hub at the centre for Northern Manitoba. With this funding announcement, our government is ensuring that the aviation safety systems that Manitobans deserve are in place. We recognize that implementing airport improvements will ensure a safe and efficient airport system is well in place to serve Manitobans well into the future."
"It's definitely going to have a significant long-term economic impact as well as improve the safety of our airport overall. We're probably looking at at least a 20-year economic impact to our airport, safety-wise and viability-wise," said Curtis Ross, chief executive officer of the TRAA. The money was made available through the Airports Capital Assistance Program (ACAP), which is run by Transport Canada. Ross also praised the federal government for their role in the funding, saying that "they worked hard at their end to make this a reality for our airport."
Ross noted that although ACAP restrictions meant none of this money can be spent towards a new terminal building, the announcement nonetheless helps the TRAA in their quest for the new terminal. "Everybody said 'oh, great, you're getting the money for the terminal building,' - that's the next step, but this is the leg up to that. Without these dollars, the terminal building would not even be in play."
"We're going to rebuild the remainder of our runway - we have 4,000 feet left to rebuild, which is the drainage sector, the lighting, the pavement," Ross said. "The pavement is 35 years old, so we're now rebuilding all that to today's standards. That is a huge economic boost to this airport. It allows us to put the terminal building in play in 2012. We don't have to seek funding on our own for the runway plus the new terminal building."
"If we didn't receive the ACAP funding for $8.7 million to do the runway, our focus as a regional airport authority would have been the runway," Ross explained. "We would have had to borrow dollars or self-finance the runway. To finance that and the new terminal building was not feasible, we're just too small of an airport. What they've essentially done for us is assist us with that first part of financing, to do the runway. Now we can go seek funding to build the new terminal building. We still have some work to do, but 2012 is when we hope to put the shovel in the ground."
Ross said that in addition to funding, the new terminal building rests on the TRAA working with the municipal government to locate a suitable piece of land. Ross expects the new building to be at least 30,000 square feet, but depending on participation from airlines such as Calm Air and Perimeter Aviation, the building could get as large as 50,000 square feet. The current terminal building is 11,000 square feet.
"It's the oldest regional terminal building in Canada," Ross said of the existing facility. "It's more than exceeded its life expectancy. The core area's set up improperly; it's a very poor gateway terminal. People from all over the world are coming in for the jet engine testing, the cold weather testing it's not the first impression that you want to bring them into." The new building will also be a boost to Thompson's job market, as the expanded facility would allow for an expanded staff.
"We're tremendously excited about seeing the commitment of this government to the ACAP program, and recognizing the importance of small, regional airports as they are feeder systems to our larger regional networks," Ross said. This year, ACAP is spending over $42 million nation-wide in airport safety-related improvements. Since ACAP was first introduced, the program has given $535 million to 651 projects at 170 Canadian airports.
The ACAP, which between 2005 and 2010 allocated an average of $38 million per year to Canadian airports, was renewed in March 2010 by the federal government. However, this renewal quietly included the caveat that what ACAP termed "fourth priority" projects would no longer be funded.
Fourth priority projects included "asset protection and refurbishing, and operating cost reduction related to air terminal building or groundside access" - in short, anything related to the physical air terminals. This is in contrast to first priority projects, which ACAP says includes "safety-related airside projects, such as rehabilitation of runways, taxiways, aprons, lighting and other utilities, visual aids and sand storage sheds related site preparation and environmental costs, aircraft firefighting vehicles and ancillary equipment and equipment shelters that are necessary to maintain the level of protection required by regulation." Second priority projects include "heavy safety-related airside mobile equipment, such as runway snow blowers, runway snow plows, runway sweepers, spreaders and decelerometers (winter friction testing devices), and heavy airside mobile equipment access." Third priority projects include "safety-related heavy air terminal building and groundside projects, such as sprinkler systems, asbestos removal and barrier-free access."
To be eligible for funding under the ACAP, airports must meet Transport Canada requirements for certification, must receive year-round passenger service on a regular basis, and must not be owned by the federal government. Twenty-one different airports received funding in the 2009-10 year, none of which were in Manitoba.
While speaking at the airport, Toews acknowledged the provincial and municipal governments that have worked with the federal government on all funding related to the Economic Action Plan. Toews also announced over $450,000 in ACAP funding for the Flin Flon Airport, which will be used to purchase a self-propelled runway snow blower and to replace the towed runway sweeper.
"My last visit to Thompson was back in April of 2009, when I announced $13.4 million for the establishment of the Canadian Environmental Test Research and Education Centre, or EnviroTREC, which will be the world's most advanced large engine coldwater testing and research facility," Toews said. "Our government is committed to protecting the safety and security of Canadians, and this region is a priority for us. We are committed to helping families and businesses realize their full potential. We know that investments need to be directed across the country, in both large and smaller communities, especially during this global economic downturn."
"Many of us in Canada have not necessarily felt the global economic downturn," Toews said. "The latest job figures, although in July they were down marginally, show that over the last year, Canada has regained virtually all of the jobs that it lost at the onset of the economic recession. That's approximately 400,000 jobs."
Toews also spoke of the other money the federal government has recently distributed to Thompson, including $1.5 million towards construction of the new Ma-Mow-We-Tak Friendship Centre building at the corner of Nelson Road and Mystery Lake Road, $920,000 for mining training simulators at Vale, $260,000 of the needed $310,000 for improvements to the recycling centre, $122,322 for Norwest Manufacturing to purchase and install a computer-numeric-controlled router, $75,000 for a play structure at the community centre, $297,000 for a mineral science industrial vocational facility, $230,000 for renovations to MacLean Park, and $25,654 for the refurbishment of Rotary Park.
The Economic Action Plan, the umbrella under which many of these announcements fall, has recently come under fire from federal opposition parties, as any projects not "substantially" completed by March 31, 2011, will not receive further funding.
