SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - With the Edmonton City Centre Airport set to close, mayors from across northern Alberta and the NWT are weighing in on what this means for their constituents - and they are giving it mixed reviews.

Brian Allen, mayor of the northern Alberta town of Grimshaw, said he's been fighting the closure since he was elected to the town's council 13 years ago, and is adamant Edmonton's city council is putting profit ahead of medevac patient safety.

"They're looking at that piece of property with dollar signs in their eyes," he said.

"It's very frustrating from a medical standpoint. People down there (in Edmonton) have great health care and we deserve great health care."

He said Grimshaw medevac patients' travel times will double once they're forced to land at the Edmonton International Airport instead of the Edmonton City Centre Airport.

"Those extra minutes are everything."

Allen said he has attempted to lobby the provincial government and the city of Edmonton through a variety of groups, including the Northern Alberta Elected Leaders, without success.

In contrast, mayor of Grand Prairie Bill Given called the airport closure a "great opportunity" for residents of the northwestern Alberta town.

He hopes that when their new acute care hospital opens in 2015, patients will opt to receive care there instead of in Edmonton.

Construction will start on the hospital later this summer, or in early fall, and will include two cancer treatment facilities.

"The airport and hospital infrastructure will be top-quality," he said.

Given said that ultimately the fate of the Edmonton City Centre Airport lies in the hands of Edmonton's city council, and that they have the power to do as they choose.

"It would be the same thing if the city of Edmonton tried to tell Grand Prairie what to do. We would probably take offence to that."

Yellowknife Mayor Gord Van Tighem called the proposed airport closure a travesty, and said it all comes down to the quality of health care people receive.

"It's no question the extra 10, 50, 20, 40 minutes make a difference," he said, adding that for patients coming out of remote regions like Inuvik or Cambridge Bay, it was even more significant.

Van Tighem said he has talked to many people from Yellowknife who would have died or suffered from brain injuries if their medevac transfer times had been longer.

He said if the city airport closed, Yellowknifers would have no choice but to start looking at other options, Grand Prairie being one of them.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.