Feds give $5.4M for Nunavut airport upgrades
Whale Cove will receive $4.4M to repair its runway; Cambridge Bay, Coral Harbour and Clyde River also get money
The mayor of Whale Cove as well as a longtime search and rescue member are criticizing the Government of Nunavut’s handling of a recent search for a missing man. (Photo courtesy of Hamlet of Whale Cove)
Four hamlets across Nunavut will get a share of approximately $5.4 million from the federal government to upgrade their airports and machinery.
Whale Cove will receive the bulk of the Transport Canada funding, with $4.4 million going toward repairs to the community’s gravel runway.
Cambridge Bay and Coral Harbour will each receive $420,000 for plow trucks, while Clyde River will get $210,000 for a snowblower.
“This investment in local and regional airports in Nunavut will ensure that residents across Nunavut continue to be able to see their loved ones and have access to essential air services,” said Transport Minister Omar Alghabra in a news release.
Alghabra made the announcement Tuesday morning in Iqaluit.
The money comes from the federal Airports Capital Assistance Program, which the government bolstered in 2020 with $186 million.
Last year, Alghabra announced $1.9 million for Coral Harbour, Kimmirut, Pangnirtung and Rankin Inlet airport projects under the same program.
What ever happened to the $22.5M from the National Transportation Corridors Fund that was marked to be used to revamp Kugluktuk, Naujaat, Kimmirut, Whale Cove and Chesterfield Inlet back in 2018 ? Seems like Kugluktuk, Naujaat and Chersterfield Inlet are getting the short end of the stick !
https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/65674first_air_nunavut_airport_terminals_share_ottawa_money_pot_for_ugrades/
They spent most of it on beer and take-out pizza plus a gold-plated (not solid!) toilet in the VIP lounge at the P3 Iqaluit airport, and the rest they burned in a bonfire at the Rotary Park in Apex.
…or maybe the pandemic slowed down progress, and then they tendered some of them in 2021 but couldn’t award a contract because inflation had sent the costs through the roof so they got more money and tried again in 2022 but the same thing happened again?
Imagine trying the same thing twice and expecting a different result.
Cambridge Bay airport infrastructure needs more then a plowtruck and the GN/FEDS know that. For how many years we have been saying the runway, taxi and apron needs paving, along with new up to date navigation aids, etc. With the current n.last B737-200 combi jet ready to retire in early 2023, Cambridge Bay n Kugluktuk will be out of jet services. Relying only on turbo prop aircrafts. Hopefully Summit Air with fly their RJ jet here