FORT FRANCES — The Fort Frances delegation at this year’s Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference will have important business to discuss with Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria, Mayor Andrew Hallikas said Friday.
Besides the matter of getting railways to compensate the town for their travel through Fort Frances, “we also want to talk about capital funding for our airport,” Hallikas told Newswatch.
“That’s really important for us,” he said. “You probably recall that we lost our carrier. That creates a problem in and of itself, because we get federal funding for the airport when we have a carrier.
“It's called ACAP funding, which is the Airports Capital Assistance Program. But when you don't have a carrier, you lose that funding.
“But the fact that we don't have a carrier doesn't diminish the importance of the airport.
“We're a district service hub with everyone in the Rainy River district requiring services – in particular health care.”
Urgent health care in the area often involves flying someone to a city from the Fort Frances airport, he noted. “We have literally hundreds of med evac flights going out of our airport (annually).
“So, our airport has strategic value as a hub for the district in terms of medical emergency assistance.”
Many businesses need the air connection, too, he said. “And so to not have a functioning airport would be hugely detrimental to the future of Fort Frances.”
The Ontario government needs to appreciate that keeping airports operating can be “a financial drain on the municipalities” and “set up some sort of program to help allay these capital costs to keep these airports open,” Hallikas said.
The mayor said he also has meetings scheduled with Solicitor General Michael Kerzner and Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack.
The cost of having Ontario Provincial Police service in the border town will be discussed with the solicitor general, he said.
The AMO conference, set for Aug. 17-20 in Ottawa, is expected to have more than 2,500 participants.
Premier Doug Ford and opposition party leaders are among the scheduled speakers. Key session topics include affordable housing, infrastructure, Indigenous relations and property reassessment.
Atikokan Mayor Rob Ferguson said he and the town’s chief administrative officer will have meetings with officials in the ministries of infrastructure and energy and mines.
“We have a pretty high-level discussion with Minister (Stephen) Lecce, the Minister of Energy and Mines,” Ferguson said. “We want to make sure that the Atikokan generating station is top of mind, because it's such a big part of the Atikokan culture and Atikokan economy.
“We want to make sure they're always thinking of us with the energy that's going to be needed in the future. We want to make sure they're keeping the Atikokan generating station going.”
Kenora Mayor Andrew Poirier said his city’s AMO conference schedule includes meetings with officials from the ministries of health, infrastructure and the solicitor general.
A key health topic is the cost of travel for medical treatment, Poirier said.
The cost of bridge maintenance and repair is a vital infrastructure concern for Kenora, he added.
Kenora also plans to meet with its MPP, Greg Rickford, during the conference. Rickford is in the Ford cabinet as northern development minister and Indigenous affairs minister.
