Consultants! More wasted money.

GIVE THE MONEY ... TAKE AWAY THE MONEY...WASTE MONEY ON A CONSULTANT. THESE IDIOTS WOULDN'T LAST 10 MIN. IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR. WE SHOULD JUST ELECT CONSULTANTS TO GOVERNMENT,BIG SAVINGS..

Campbell, stay home I for one an getting tired of hearing the same old "OH HUM" government speaches... and nothing getting done...
what a legacy I see forming...

During the recent opening ceremony of the newly expanded P.G. airport buildings Premier Campbell gave a positively rousing speech to the audience - giving the *impending* runway lengthening and the new refueling operations his and the province's full support, blessing and wholehearted endorsement.

It sounded as if the digging would commence before the listeners got back to their homes!

Now the provincial funding is on ice and the feds are having second thoughts after fully endorsing the project and enjoying the photo-ops of handing over the cheque.

Hill and Harris?

What exactly has happened between *then* and *now* ???

No wonder the general public is mostly disillusioned with politicians of all parties.

Giterdun - right on!

I second that Giterdun!That just about covers it.
And I have just about had Gordon (the Wonderboy) Campbell right up to the eyeballs!!Time his party ate him!

I beleive that both levels of Government are still waiting for a business plan for this project. Maybe the consultants are going to look into the overall feasibility of it.

Dont forget all we have so far is the Airport Authority stating that they want to expand the runway so that Wide Body Cargo Jets that presenlty fly in and out of Anchorage Alaska could land and refuel at Prince George. They have stated that if they could get 1% of the Anchorage business, then over a 20 year period this could become a viable operation.

Now if you care to think about it for a minute this is not a very sensible proposition to be throwing $33 Million dollars into, unless they have a business plan that has some teeth.

I expect that they do not, and if they dont, then they should scrap the idea, and reduce the Airport Improvement Fees from $10.00 per head to $5.00 per head, or terminate it altogether, and get on with running the Airport. Worst case scenario is to have the Airport returned to the Federal Government and let them run it.

Aw close the airport down. It just attracts terrorists. The place never had a business plan, it just seems to keep going for some reason that no one can figure out anyway. If they build a longer runway bigger airplanes will start using it and what's the point of that if there is no plan for those airplanes. Too risky I'd say, no control on who might use the airport then.
At least this way we know for sure Prince George can't attract business that we might not want. City Council would have to shut those newcomers down and order saw-horses placed on the runway to make it shorter.
I hear the Clean Air boys are starting up a parallel clan called Quiet Air in order to get rid of jet engines in Prince George.

You have to admit the chances of a longer runway in PG are a long shot. Too much common sense around for that idea to give birth.

Common sense might stop the big time spenders from Pi----g $33 Million dollars into the wind.

The Prince George Airport has been around since 1928. First on 16 West and then at its present location. Not a lot of growth for being in business for 80 years. The Anchorage Airport has grown significantly since 1950 and now has 1000 flights a week in and out of Anchorage. 700 of these are wide body cargo flights to and from Asia, and of course they have UPS/Fedex/DHL located there with distribution warehouses etc;

I cant understand why there would be such a huge growth in Anchorage and none in Prince George, I guess this will be one of the great mysterys the world has ever known.

Unless (just a thought) maybe Anchorage had a business plan that made sense and they stuck to it and over time became a screaming success. We on the other hand cannot even come up with a plan let alone do anything significant to get any business.

Without a plan to show how the money will be spent and how much business will be generated over the next 20 years you have nothing.

My position is **No Plan** No Money**

"GIVE THE MONEY ... TAKE AWAY THE MONEY...WASTE MONEY ON A CONSULTANT. THESE IDIOTS WOULDN'T LAST 10 MIN. IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR."

Consultants wouldn't last ten minutes either if it were not for "idiots". The more "idiots" there are, the more consultants are needed.

;-)

"What exactly has happened between *then* and *now* ???"

They listened to the great consultant, Palopu ....

;-)

Palopu- with all the spare time and knowledge that you have, you should write a business plan for the airport.

The way you think, no one from the airport has done any research or planning. Do you think they are all sitting with thier feet on thier desks waiting for the money??

Maybe you are the only one capable of knowing that the runway expansion is a waste of time??

red2b. I wouldnt waste my time trying to come up with a business plan for this expansion for the simple reason that I do not beleive this is a good use of $33 Million of taxpayers money.

I have tried to explain to people time and again how this situation came about, however it seems that either they do not care or they cannot grasp what is happening. I will give it one more try.

(1) There was no talk of expanding the Airport Runway until the Airport Authority was created by the Federal, Provincial, Regional, and Municipal Governments. Once this Authority was established they were allowed to assess an Airport Improvement Fee on all passengers departing the Prince George Airport. This fee was originally $5.00 per head, but was quickly increased to $10.00 per head.

(2) All the money generated from the Airport Improvement Fees must be spent on Airport improvements, and this is the key to the whole situation. ****Must be spent of Airport Improvements**** If the money is not spent on improvements, then the Airport Improvement Fees must be reduced or eliminated.

(3) Is the picture starting to become clear?. The Airport Improvements Fees generate approx $1,650,000.00 per year for the Airport Authority, and unless they spend this money on improvements they have to get rid of the fees.

(4) So what happened so far. (A) The Airport Terminal Building was expanded, and a Customs facility was built, even though the only people who go through customs are those who use the direct flight to Mexico 12 times per year between late December and Early March. (B) The Airport parking lot was increased from roughly 500 spaces to 800 spaces. These two projects alone cost millions of dollars.

(5) Having run out of ideas for spending the Airport Improvement Fee money, the Airport Authority came up with the idea of expanding the Runway and getting Wide Body Cargo Jets, who presenlty use Anchorage Alaska to use the Prince George facility. If they get 1% of the Anchorage business then this plan could be a viable operation in 20 years time.

(6) One of the first orders of business of the new Airport Authority was to get rid of 20 jobs, and cross train the balance of the staff. So in effect just to get back to where they started they will have to come up with 20 Jobs.

(7) Now here is the question: Is the Airport Runway Expansion Project a viable business proposition that with the investment of $33 Million create an enviroment that will be attractive to business, and over time become a success, or is it a venture that allows the Airport Authority to borrow money from the Northern Trust Initiative, 11 Million,to be paid back at interest based on inflation over 10 years, which means that the Airport Improvement Fees must be kept in place to help finiance the expansion and pay back the loan, and of course provide job security for those who work at the Airport.

(8) The whole concept of Airport Authoritys is a diabolical scheme created by the Federal Government that allowed them to abdicate their responsibility of running Canada's Airports, download this responsibility to Airport Authorities, and give them the authority to tax passengers to pay for improvements. The Federal Government continues to own the Airports and collects rent from the Airport Authoritys, and at the end of the day they make more money than they did when they ran the Airports themselves.

(9) One of the reasons that the Federal Government set up Airport Authoritys rather than sell the Airports to private business, is because they cannot legally allow private business to assess taxes. The Airport in Ft St John is private and got around this problem by charging a trespass fee. By setting up Authoritys appointed by the four levels of Government the Authoritys can tax passengers and generate revenue. Much like the transit Authority does in Vancouver.

(10) The diabolical part of the scheme is that the 26 Airports in Canada are now being improved to various levels, as a direct result of passengers being taxed for using the airlines. The Federal Government continues to own the Airports, and collects rent which generates more revenue for them than when they ran the Airport themselves, and **Bobs you Uncle**.

(11) There is no private money being invested in any of these endeavours. The whole scheme in finianced by taxpayers, and run by people who were appointed by various levels of Government. Whether the venture is a success or a failure doesnt matter a *Whit* because no one is really responsible for its success, and no one will lose any money if it goes bust.(Except taxpayers)

(12)Who's going to know or care 10 years from now????