Prince Albert and La Ronge airports to receive up to $600K in funding from federal government
On Wednesday Western Economic Diversification Canada announced two Saskatchewan airports will each receive a slice of $4 million in funding for seven Prairie airports through its Regional Air Transportation Initiative (RATI).
The initiative was launched in March to enable regional air carriers and airports to remain operational and continue to contribute to growth while adapting to new post COVID-19 realities and requirements, a government news release said.
Prince Albert and La Ronge are the two airports in Saskatchewan that will receive up to $300,000 each for improvements.
LA RONGE UPGRADES
“The investment will not only help a critical asset in our region economy recover from COVID, it will help improve the competitiveness of our airport and speed up the recovery timelines. On behalf of council, we are very thankful for the investment,” La Ronge Mayor Colin Ratushinak said in the release.
Ratushinak says the funding will go towards three areas in the La Ronge airport. Getting high speed internet, adding lights to the deicing bay area and rehabilitating the apron to secure aircrafts for parking.
“Being in a remote location where we are situated, we’re at a place where we’re not at sort of viable communications you would typically see in the south,” Ratushinak told CTV News regarding the internet speed.
He says the airport had a maximum of 5 megabytes per second of speed and compares urban airports receiving a gigabyte of speed or faster.
Ratushinak emphasizes not having any lights in the deicing bay during the winter can be difficult as the sun doesn’t come up until 8 or 9 a.m.
He adds the airport is a “main hub” for flight planning as they have a 24/7 flight service station.
PRINCE ALBERT IMPROVEMENTS
Prince Albert airport manager Corey Nygaard says the news of the funding was “pretty exciting” as it they weren’t expecting any money to come this year.
It will go towards painting the runway, a snowblower and an emergency generator for maintenance facilities.
Nygaard says regional airports are “vitally important” as people north of the province may only have the option to fly in order to travel to other parts of the province.
”We support the resource sector, the mining companies that have older employees, and it makes more logistical sense to wire your staff to these locations,” Nygaard told CTV News.
“Last but definitely not least the connectivity of emergency services medevac system, all the way up north, that they're funneling through Prince Albert hospital first.”
Nygaard says the Prince Albert airport was “luckier than most” and was only down 50 per cent capacity during the height of the pandemic while bigger airports were down by 90 per cent.
In order to receive the funding, Nygaard says the airport fills out a funding agreement and will purchase materials over the next two years. The airport submits the requests and the invoices come in later.
Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Fort McMurray, High Level, and The Pas are the other airports in the prairies that will receive funding through RATI.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada Disability Benefit needs to be safeguarded from clawbacks, MPs unanimously agree
The federal government needs to safeguard the incoming Canada Disability Benefit from clawbacks and do more to ensure it actually meets the stated aim of lifting people living with disabilities out of poverty, MPs from all parties agree.
Security guard shot, seriously injured outside of Drake's Toronto mansion
A security guard working at Drake’s Bridle Path mansion in Toronto was seriously injured in a shooting outside the residence early Tuesday morning, police said.
Testifying in hush money trial, adult film actor Stormy Daniels describes first meeting Trump
Stormy Daniels took the witness stand Tuesday at Donald Trump's hush money trial, describing for jurors a sexual encounter the porn actor says she had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid off to keep silent during the presidential election 10 years later.
King Charles too busy to see son Prince Harry during U.K. trip
Prince Harry will not be seeing his father King Charles during his current visit to Britain as the monarch will be too busy, Harry's spokesperson said on Tuesday.
opinion Tom Mulcair: Turfing Poilievre from House a clear sign of desperation by Trudeau Liberals
When Speaker Greg Fergus tossed out Pierre Poilievre from the House last week, "those of us who have experience as parliamentarians simply couldn't believe our eyes," writes former NDP leader Tom Mulcair in his column for CTVNews.ca
Apple unveils new iPad Pro with 'outrageously powerful' AI-powered chip
Apple is hoping its latest iPad lineup will breathe new life into its sluggish tablet market. In a pre-recorded live streamed event from its Cupertino, California headquarters, the company introduced the latest versions of its iPad Pro and iPad Air tablets, and an all-new Apple Pencil Pro.
Katy Perry's mom was fooled by AI images of the singer at the Met Gala
Katy Perry did not attend the Met Gala on Monday, but some of the singer’s fans – and even her mom – thought she did.
Your body needs these three forms of movement every week
Movement is movement, right? Not exactly. Here’s what your body is looking for in addition to your morning walk or yoga session, according to experts.
'It looked so legit': Ontario man pays $7,700 for luxury villa found on Booking.com, but the listing was fake
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.