Federal minister applauds Brandon airport project

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This article was published 24/11/2015 (3917 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canada’s new federal minister of employment, workforce and labour, MaryAnn Mihychuk, took some time out from the ongoing Association of Manitoba Municipalities conference on Monday to help break a little ground at the Brandon Municipal Airport.

Mihychuk joined provincial Municipal Government Minister and Brandon East NDP MLA Drew Caldwell and Brandon Mayor Rick Chrest, along with several other local representatives, including Brandon-Souris Conservative MP Larry Maguire, to celebrate the start of construction on the Brandon Municipal Airport Expansion/Redevelopment Project.

“I think it’s a good investment,” Mihychuk told the Sun. “It’s $2.9 million from the federal government. It will help the area develop and it’s good for business. It’s good for our new Syrian refugees that are coming, and it’s good for the citizens who live here.

“We’re hearing that there’s lots of traffic, more demand doubling up. So it’s all indications of a strong economy, which is what we want to see.”

It was her very first announcement as a federal minister, and after a steep learning curve in taking over her portfolio, Mihychuk said she was pleased to be able to come to Brandon to start things off.

“My first duty was to try and read all the briefing books. So for three weeks I’ve been in a bubble just learning the department. But this is my first official event, and it couldn’t be better,” she said. “It’s in Brandon. It’s an area with a strong community, and a really positive business future.”

The federal and provincial governments have each committed to contributing up to $2,906,200 toward the project, which was approved under the New Building Canada Fund’s Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component-National and Regional Projects program. The City of Brandon will cover the remainder of the costs associated with the project.

In his remarks, Caldwell took the opportunity to slam recent comments made by Progressive Conservative Leader Brian Pallister, who said he could not commit to continuing on with any specific infrastructure projects should his party win government in the provincial election next April.

“Investing in our province and investing in our communities, working together with municipalities, is the right way to proceed in terms of building our communities and building our province,” Caldwell said.

“We have historically low interest rates right now, we have a partner that has ambitions greater than any other federal government in my lifetime in terms of infrastructure investment. It would be absolutely the wrong path to take right now — one that would stop us in our tracks in terms of economic development and growth in this province.”

The major overhaul will see the airport terminal building expanded to three times its current size, to better accommodate daily air service provided by WestJet, and potentially attract service growth.

T.L. Penner Construction was awarded the contract for the project in September at a cost of $7.4 million.

Company general manager Zack Penner said the expansion project will be challenging, but he expects that with good planning and foresight, “we shouldn’t have a problem completing on time and on budget.”

The joint initiative is slated for completion in December 2016.

» mgoerzen@brandonsun.com

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