Lots of Talk About Airport But Still No Cash

Friday, January 12, 2007 04:01 AM

Premier Gordon Campbell sounds very positive about the future of the Prince George Airport, but when it comes down to it, his government hasn't made any firm financial committment to the Airport Authority's plans for expansion, at least not yet.

The Province has provided money for planning, in fact, that is the source of the dollars for the current runway expansion design project. "Well there's probably been no government that has been as strong an advocate for the Prince George Airport as our government" says Premier Campbell " and we have been advocating for the expansion of the airport, but when we do that, we require them to give us the business plan, we require them to show us how its going to work. We are big supporters of the Prince George Airport and we will continue to be, but they still have responsibilities they have to meet and hopefully the Federal Government will come to the table soon and show they're committed to it."

The Premier says the Airport Authority may have presented a business plan to the Ministry of Transportation but he hasn't seen it yet. The Premier says he is the one who is pushing the whole idea of opening up the Prince George Airport as an intermodal terminal but that will also require significant financial committment to rubber traffic and rail infrastructure. "We're investing billions of dollars in infrastructure right now in expanding the container port, road expansion, bridge expansion. This is a long term project, I think Prince George has done pretty well and will continue to do well." The Premier says P.G. has a strong vision and that bodes well "Prince George will continue to do well because they have good strong sense of where they want to go and that's always really important. I think the Airport Authority has done a good job, the Mayor has done a good job, the MLAs have done a good job and its not done until its done."

Does that mean the Province will be forthcoming with eleven million for that airport runway expansion plan? The Premier would not be pinned down "The committment you've got is the committment you've got" says Campbell. "Every community is asking for more committments and we've got to manage our resources so we can continue to move this economy ahead. We're investing tens of millions of dollars with transportation infrastructure right now for the North and for Prince George."

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Posted on Friday, January 12, 2007 04:01 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: rufus on January 12 2007 7:36 AM

hmm, some of his phrases sound like they have been stolen from Rumsfeld.

Posted by: giterdun on January 12 2007 8:04 AM

HEY GORDON...
LOTS OF TALK ABOUT ROADS,BRIDGES,CONTAINER RELOADS,NECHAKO OIL,GAS,AIRPORTS....IF YOU WERE IN THE CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS YOU WOULD BE BROKE.
TIME HAS COME TO PUT THE SHOVEL IN THE GROUND.WE IN THE NORTH MAY HAVE BEEN BORN AT NITE BUT NOT LAST NITE! CUT THE B.S. LETS GET SOME ACTION.

Posted by: postman on January 12 2007 9:26 AM

Campbell just spouts this drivel to keep the troops from deserting. He has no intention of supporting his babble with any substantial commitment. Too much fun spending it on the 2010 party.

Posted by: Dozer on January 12 2007 10:03 AM

It is time the presant govy started to think about this area and spend some of the revenue that comes from the north back in the north instead of most of it going to the south or they may not have three members here next time.Gordo says one million for stanley park and none for the contianer port or airport in PG... Bad! Bad1

Posted by: diplomat on January 12 2007 11:38 AM

I attended the recent opening of the P.G. Airport Terminal expansion which featured as its main speaker the Premier, Mr. Gordon Campbell. He spoke very enthusiastically about the advantages of the new Custom facilities and the upcoming runway extension and the many jobs and opportunities these would bring to this area.

He basically committed the Provincial Government's support for the longer runway. It is politically impossible, i.e. suicidal, to backtrack now or introduce further funding delays for whatever reasons.

The people of this area will not stand for it. Period.

Already we have been shafted by the shelving of the full fledged cancer clinic promised for Prince George.

It was the communities of Prince Rupert, Terrace, Kitimat and Smithers which vehemently opposed any plans for a cancer clinic here - the matter is stalemated, since then.

It is everybody for themselves, apparently, so we in Prince George better let it be known in no uncertain terms that Prince George will hold all politicians accountable for any and all promises, especially recent election promises.

Posted by: Palopu on January 12 2007 12:47 PM

Firstly when you are asking for funding for a project you should know what it is you are doing. This is why it is necessary for the Airport Authority to give the Government a business plan. With 11 Million from the Prov, 11 From the Feds, and 11 Million borrowed from the Northern Trust we are looking at spending $33 Million. We better have a business plan in place, and it better show that there will be some return on these dollars. As it is now there is nothing to indicate that we will get any additional business at all.

(1) We have one flight a week from Prince George to Mexico for approx 12 flights a year, and for this we have built a new terminal extension, and we have to have Customs available every week to clear passengers through customs. I think they added a customs job to Prince George, however I suspect that they are still flying customs people in from Vancouver to clear these passengers. This to me seems to be a huge cost to facilitate a direct flight because a few tourists donts want to spend a night in Vancouver. If they fly anwhere else in the world except Puerto Vallarta of course they have to layover in Vancouver.

(2) Expanded airport parking at a significant cost, however the last three times I was out there, one before Christmas and two after, the parking lot was half empty, so they have a long way to go to fill this lot.

(3) Extending the Airport runway to handle wide body jets sounds like a good idea, however you need to be able to show that these jets will in fact land in Prince George. In other words **wheres the beef** If we have no plan, then we should spend no money. The new jets being built to-day are apparently capable of flying direct from China and South East Asia to points in the USA. If this is true then there is even less chance that they would ever come to Prince George.

This project has to be well thought out before the Airport Authority gets any money, and if it isnt and they do get the money, then it will be for the sake of politics, and will have nothing to do with common sense.

Posted by: trusted on January 12 2007 4:53 PM

Feds coming through with 11 million!
Now Campbell can announce the provincial gov't will also pay 11 million.
Sorry, Pal, but if it is not developed, then there is no hope for cargo flights to ever materialize.
The improvements at the airport were not completed for 12 flights a year to Mexico. Who knows what is really in store?
Better to be an optimist on this one.
Time the governments looked at Prince George as a viable city and increased funding for some major projects.
It certainly can do no harm -and although the potential is not exactly earth shattering-it is at least promising!

Posted by: Palopu on January 12 2007 10:05 PM

Trusted. I appreciate you being positive on this one however I have to disagree. Until the Airport Authority was established along with the right to assess Airport Improvement Fees, there was never any talk of any Cargo Jets landing in Prince George. Prince George has had an Airport since 1928 so you would think that someone would have got this off the ground long ago. I suggest to you it is no more than a way for the Airport Authority to spend the Airport Improvement Fee money. If they dont spend it, they have to reduce the fee or cancel it. I could of course be wrong.

For your information regular customs service began at the Prince George Airport in 1967 however it was later taken out because it was not warranted.

If my memory serves me right it was not that long ago that the Federal Government had plans to seriously downsize this Airport, however those plans were shelved when the Airport Authority was established, even then one of the first orders of business for the Airport Authority was to eliminate 20 jobs.