April 25th, 2023 - Question Period - Bathurst Regional Airport
Good morning, minister. Welcome to the Senate, and thank you for being with us this afternoon.
My question is about the situation at the Bathurst Regional Airport.
As you know, the Bathurst airport is in danger of closing if it doesn’t receive approximately $1 million in funding. Before the pandemic, the Bathurst airport was doing well and had ambitious plans for the future, but since then it has been fighting for survival.
This airport is an economic engine for the region. It is critical that the Bathurst airport remain open for northern New Brunswick.
As Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, and given that you are from New Brunswick, can you tell us whether the federal government intends to help the Bathurst airport before it is too late?
Thank you for the question, senator. I’m glad to see you in fine form here with us today.
I can assure you that we are well aware of the economic importance of the Bathurst airport. My colleague, MP Serge Cormier, often talks to us about it. I had discussions with him and my colleague, Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor, on this subject a few weeks ago.
As you know, during the COVID-19 pandemic, our government was very generous with regard to airports, as it should have been and as it had to be in order to ensure that this essential infrastructure was still able to operate once the pandemic was behind us.
We are facing challenges when it comes to air services in our region. I’m no economist, but I believe that that is partly due to the pandemic and partly due to the decline in the regional service offering by a number of airlines.
I met one of the vice-presidents of Air Canada recently at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. This is a major challenge in every region of Canada, both in the regions of Quebec and in our region. Yes, we are trying to work with the Bathurst Regional Airport so that we don’t lose this infrastructure, but the problem is twofold because we need to revamp the airport and find a way to encourage airlines to use the airport space that is available. There’s no use in keeping the airport open if there are no airlines there providing services.
We’ll continue to do what is necessary to keep the airport operational.