Audit critical of feds over northern airports
Report calls on Transport Canada to prioritize improvements at 117 remote sites
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Saturday, June 10, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Scrubbed medevac flights, limited technology and runways insufficient for modern planes were among issues with remote northern airports highlighted in a report by the auditor general of Canada.
Whati's airport serves as one of the main links to the community outside winter. An auditor general's report calls on the federal government to take a leadership role in prioritizing infrastructure improvements in remote northern airports to maintain safety and efficiency. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo
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The audit released last month examined whether Transport Canada assessed and addressed civil aviation infrastructure needs to ensure a safe and efficient aviation system at 117 remote airports across the country that serve as a primary transit link to communities. It didn't include Whitehorse or Yellowknife.
Transport Canada is aware of the needs but didn't take a leadership role to address the issues and the demand for funds for safety projects outstripped supply, the report states.
The GNWT's own 20-year needs assessment estimated its airports require $829 million worth of work.
Enhanced runway lighting, better navigational aids, paved or longer runways and more reliable weather information would help improve safety and reliability, airlines suggested. The audit found more than half the airports examined didn't have key visual aids for pilots to help land during reduced visibility, such as stormy weather.
The audit states one airline cancelled nine per cent of its flights over two years due to weather, which was in part because of limited navigational systems and lighting at some airports.
A company providing medevac flights in two territories stated it delayed or cancelled about 29 per cent of emergency medical flights per year in one of the territories due to poor weather information. The airline and territory were not identified in the report, though Air Tindi has a contract for medevac flights in the Northwest Territories and Kitikmeot region of Nunavut.
Airports in the territory are owned by the GNWT's Department of Infrastructure. Infrastructure Minister Wally Schumann said he'll be raising the audit results with Transport Canada Minister Marc Garneau and Infrastructure and Communities Minister Amarjeet Sohi.
Schumann said the scrubbed flights and issues highlighted in the report show the need to spend to improve the airports. He said he believes the airports are safe, but face challenges.
"We don't have the money to do that, we're going to have to rely on the federal government to do that," Schumann said in an interview May 25.
Previously, reports have pointed to the need for more spending to deal with short runways and a lack of reliable weather information.
There was $38 million per year in safety-related infrastructure funding available for small airports across the country from the federal government, $15 million was spent in the 2014-15 through 2016-17 fiscal years for the airports included in the audit.
In 2016, the audit found 41 of the 117 remote northern airports estimated they would need $101 million over three years for various safety improvements.
Northern Air Transport Association executive director Glenn Priestley said he sympathizes with the government because there's always greater demand for money.
The association representing Northern airlines passed resolutions at its annual general meeting in April calling on Transport Canada to develop a policy that recognizes and supports the role of Northern airlines in the economy and the creation of a fund that could help cover costs of improving airports in the North.
The audit states Transport Canada in 2016 planned to take a more active role but had yet to release details of what that would mean. The report states that's important because the longer improvements are delayed, the higher costs become.
The report makes two recommendations: Transport Canada should lead in the development of a long-term strategy for northern airport infrastructure and determine what sources of money would meet the needs of those airports.
In a response to the audit recommendations included with the report, Transport Canada stated it agreed with the findings. The department stated it would work with territorial governments and other federal departments to identify priorities for northern transit, including airports.
