The Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure remain committed to working with the First Nation. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

Airport upgrades

No provincial funding coming for Fond du Lac runway expansion

Oct 8, 2019 | 4:45 PM

There will be no provincial funding coming for the expansion of the Fond du Lac Airport runway.

That’s according to Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure Assistant Director David Horth, who said there has been no commitment to use provincial funds to complete such a project. On Monday, Fond du Lac Denesuline Chief Louie Mercredi flew the media to his community where he stated the province was willing to work with the band in stages, but only once $11 million from the federal government’s Airport Capital Assistance Program is spent.

“What I can tell you is that it’s true what the chief told you about moving forward with the planned resurfacing of the existing runway using the money approved by the Airport Capital Assistance Program,” Horth said. “That money is there and that project should go ahead. The other part of it what we agreed to do is the province, through the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure and also the Ministry of Government Relations, is we said we would help the Fond du Lac First Nation complete a detailed application to compete for funding under a federal program that would allow for additional improvements at the airport.”

Horth stated even though the airport is owned and is under the jurisdiction of the province, the band still needs to send in the proposal because that’s how the program works. He stated the province has worked with the band in the past at funding an automated weather observation system and a webcam.

“We’re working together on the Airport Capital Assistance Program, then we were working together to get some federal dollars for more work on the airport for additional improvements,” Horth said.

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According to an email from Lori Carr, the minister of government relations, safety is a top priority for the province and they are committed to ensuring the Fond du Lac runway is safe and operating under the Transport Canada guidelines and restrictions. It also stated no application was ever received for the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) funding through the Rural and Northern Communities Infrastructure stream.

“Without a completed application, the project was not able to be further considered for ICIP funding,” the email stated. “In June 2019, officials from the Ministry of Government Relations requested a full application be submitted for the Fond du Lac Airport project, which did not occur. The Fond du Lac Denesuline First Nation, along with other eligible recipients, will be invited to participate in the full ICIP application intake anticipated in late 2019.”

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno