North Bay Mayor Al McDonald says council has sent a very strong message that it is not going to allow the Jack Garland Airport to close.
The airport is dealing with the recent announcement that Air Canada is pulling up stakes, and the ongoing impact of COVID-19.
See: Air Canada announcement 'devastating' news for Jack Garland Airport and local economy
And: Air Canada extends local service cut. Taxpayers on the hook
The airport, with its 10-thousand foot runway, has been identified as an “important city and regional economic and community asset.”
The 2019 North Bay Jack Garland Airport Economic Impact and Land Use Study found tenants and companies located at the airport contribute over $57 million to the North Bay and region’s annual Gross Domestic Product.
Council was presented with three staff recommendations during its regular meeting of council on how to move forward.
The first recommendation is to work with local organizations and businesses to lobby the federal and provincial governments to provide funding.
“Business likes certainty. And we have 700 plus jobs dependent on the airport. If business doesn’t hear that we are going to keep the airport open, those 700 jobs would leave our community,” explained McDonald.
“Chorus Aviation has 320 employees. They actually refurbish UN aircraft. If council said that they weren’t going to keep the airport open, Chorus would leave the city with 320 jobs. They wouldn’t want to leave North Bay, but they obviously need an airport to operate. They need to be able to fly their aircraft in and out of North Bay.”
The second recommendation is to direct staff to find up to $1.5 million through the 2021 Operating and Capital Budget to keep the airport operational.
Budget deliberations for 2021 begin in the fall.
“More than likely the money will come from reserves. It is still a council decision, but it won’t have upward pressure on the operating budget,” said McDonald.
By that point, council could learn if it will receive any financial support from the federal government.
“We’re hopeful the federal government steps in to assist us, and if it does, that number obviously would go down. I am in conversation with our MP Anthony Rota for support for our airport. He understands how important the airport is, so we’ve written a letter and I’ve had conversations with Anthony about federal government support.”
The third and final recommendation is to reach a subsidy agreement for the balance of 2020 if required.
The timing of the funding request did not go over well with Councillor Mark King.
“I feel this particular council has been put in a corner with respect to this funding requirement. Quite frankly to suggest in public that the city has a strong financial balance sheet just doesn’t fly with me,” said King who said council is “dead wrong” if it thinks they need to move ahead with the funding request.
“If you go ahead and support the motion the way it is written at this particular moment, you will actually take both the federal and provincial governments off the hook as far as funding is concerned. You might as well figure on funding this for the foreseeable future.”
The city councillor says both senior levels of government need to recognize the airport as an important asset from a regional, provincial, and national standpoint.
“This is an important airport, but how can we justify taking tax dollars from someone who has been out of business for the past four months?”
Councillor Dave Mendicino stated that there is more to the Jack Garland Airport than just Air Canada.
“Up until now, this airport has been self-sustaining from an operational standpoint. This is one of the city’s most important economic assets and the board has been self-sustaining from an operational standpoint up until this pandemic. This is what, potentially, reserves can be used for. This is why we have reserves,” said Mendicino.
“We are directing staff to find up to $1.5 million in the 2021 budget for the continued operation of North Bay Jack Garland Airport. We know about the 424 direct jobs, the 179 indirect jobs, the $57 million in gross domestic product. No airport, no jobs, no economic benefit. Approval of this motion sends a strong, clear message to everyone that we are not closing our airport.”
Mendicino reminded council that closing the airport is easy, but the process of reopening means starting over "from scratch."
“It is a long process and at considerable cost. Our message should be strong, that we are growing our city and we are open for business.”
Council was reminded by city councillor Bill Vrebosch that the airport handles thousands of flights, with major employers Chorus Aviation, MNRF, Canadore College, and Nav Canada among the other airport users.
“There is a total of 15,783 flights out of this airport and only 13-hundred and 99 were Air Canada flights. The other flights included everything from MedEvac’s to cargo, to Bear Skin Airlines, and businesses” said Vrebosch, who pointed out that MedEvac flights totalled 273.
“If you had a situation where you had to fly somebody to Toronto or fly somebody over to Sudbury and you didn’t have this available to you, what would you do? Hitchhike on the highway? We have to protect this.”
Vrebosch who was recently appointed to FONOM (Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities) will be asking the organization to support regional airports.
“This thing is more than just an economic builder in North Bay. You can’t afford not to support this. I agree with Councillor King that the federal government and the provincial government have to realize this.”
Deputy Mayor Tanya Vrebosch said people need to understand that the airport belongs to the city.
“Where people are getting confused is the fact that this is not just any business. It is our asset. It belongs to the city of North Bay and they have a board operating it for us,” said Vrebosch.
“So, it is just like if we had any other department, any other asset in the city. It belongs to us. So, to get rid of it and to reclaim it later on when things get better would cost us that much more, or we might never get it back.”
Councillor Mac Bain referred to the airport as an important transportation infrastructure.
“It is part of the multimodal approach that northern Ontario needs to survive and thrive and to attract business that is relocating because of the pandemic to northern Ontario. Having a viable airport is part of the toolbox that we have to offer to the world,” said Bain.
“It would be nice to see as many champions support and want to see the airport continue to thrive as we saw with the ONTC a number of years ago. Those of us who have been around a long time will remember that there were more train tracks in the North Bay area and northern Ontario. Once those train tracks are pulled up and pulled away, they are never coming back. I would hate to see us vote at any time to close up the airport.”
