Report reprimands Transport Canada
Auditor general's review finds runways, lights and navigational aids among items neglected at Northern airports
Derek Neary
Northern News Services
Saturday, June 3, 2017
NUNAVUT
Transport Canada has failed to show leadership in addressing infrastructure needs at Canada's Northern airports, a report by the Auditor General of Canada has found.
Passengers file out of the Cambridge Bay airport to catch a flight. An auditor general's report takes Transport Canada to task for not showing leadership in determining infrastructure needs at Northern airports. - photo courtesy of the Economic Development and Transportation
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Runway conditions, lighting, navigational aids and information pertaining to weather and runway conditions are among the areas that have been neglected as Transport Canada provided only $140 million to remote Northern airports out of $737 million in total program funding since 1995, according to the report, which was tabled on May 16.
"We found that while Transport Canada knew about the infrastructure needs of remote Northern airports, it did not lead co-ordinated efforts to address the unique challenges these airports faced," the report states. "Transport Canada needs to take the lead in collaborating with the various stakeholders to develop a different funding approach for these airports in the North."
One existing challenge will be making up for the resulting deficit in funding, the report acknowledges. An estimated $792 million in safety-related projects were awaiting funding as of 2016, but the federal Airports Capital Assistance Program is worth only $38 million annually, an amount that has not changed in 17 years.
In Nunavut alone, $463 million worth of airport capital projects were identified in 2014 covering the next 20 years, and that figure did not include the new Iqaluit airport.
Regarding the funding deficit, Natasha Gauthier, senior media relations adviser with Transport Canada, pointed to the $2 billion allotted over 11 years through the National Trade Corridors Fund and a $2 billion fund for rural and Northern communities. She indicated that those pots of money "could align" with the needs of Northern airports.
The Northern Air Transportation Association (NATA), which represents Northern air carriers, has passed a resolution calling upon the federal government to create a capital assistance program dedicated to Northern airports.
The GN, on the other hand, is confident that funding improvements will be forthcoming, in light of the auditor general's report on airport infrastructure and recommendations in the Canada Transportation Act Review in 2016, said John Hawkins, acting director of the Iqaluit airport.
Who takes the lead?
In the auditor general's report, Transport Canada responded by committing to "work with territorial governments and other federal government departments and stakeholders to identify shared priorities for Northern transportation infrastructure, including, but not limited to, Northern airports."
However, in a statement to Nunavut News/North, Gauthier wrote "it should be noted that Transport Canada neither owns nor operates any airports north of the 60th parallel north. Therefore, identification of these infrastructure needs would be led by the owners and operators of these facilities."
Hawkins said the territorial government "has been steadfast in urging the federal government to review Nunavut's airport infrastructure needs." In June 2015 officials from Nunavut's Department of Economic Development and Transportation appeared before the Canada Transportation Act Review and presented a comprehensive list of Nunavut's transportation needs, Hawkins noted.
Asked about the absence of clear leadership on the issue, Glenn Priestley, NATA's executive director, said NATA has recommended that an aviation committee be formed in the North.
"NATA will be happy to organize it. We'd sit down and prioritize on an annual basis which projects require funding," Priestley said.
