Churchill Airport gets $13.4 million for improvements

August 23, 2010

In Churchill for the first stop of his five-day tour of northern Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced funding for improvements to the Churchill Airport.

The federal government, which owns and operates the airport, pledged $13.4 million for improvements to runways, ramps, taxiways and the reconstruction of the entrance road to the terminal building.

"Thousands of people call Canada’s North and communities such as Churchill home," said Harper. "Through investments such as this, our government is committed to ensuring that these Canadians have access to the goods, services and opportunities they need.''

Harper plans to visit all three northern territories over five days. On Tuesday, he will travel to Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, for another announcement before heading farther north to Resolute, where Canadian Forces are on an Arctic sovereignty exercise, called Operation Nanook. He will also visit Whitehorse.

He is touring the nation’s three territories as part of the federal government’s effort to assert Canada’s sovereignty in the far North. The trip comes just days after the government announced a new policy towards the region, with a heavy emphasis on diplomacy to settle existing boundary disputes.

"Every time I visited the region, I have made announcements with respect to those four priorities, but the No. 1 priority is the protection of and promotion of Canadian sovereignty, and that will not change," Harper told reporters last week.

He said it's all part of building the "four pillars" of his Arctic strategy: Asserting sovereignty through a stronger military and border control; fostering economic and social development; protecting the environment; and giving northerners more control over their own affairs.
Source:  Winnipeg Free Press Online Edition