A federal investment of $2.3 million for the rehabilitation of the Prince George Airport was announced Oct. 23.

The project will repair the degraded runway, “to maximize the use of the existing airport capacity, which is important work since the runway services commercial aircraft and air tankers,” said a Transport Canada news release issued yesterday.

“This project is expected to have significant economic and employment benefits by creating an estimated 40 jobs during construction,” said the news release.

The funding was announced by Terry Beech, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport and Member of Parliament for Burnaby North–Seymour. The news release states the Prince George Airport is “located in a strategic corridor linking North America and Asia.”

“Transportation systems are a vital part of Prince George’s economy and the investment announced here today will foster long-term prosperity for the city. These improvements to the Prince George Airport will increase transportation options for the community while helping businesses get more products to market,” commented Beech.

Todd Doherty, Member of Parliament for Cariboo-Prince George, Shadow Minister for Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, and the Asia-Pacific Gateway released a statement, saying: “[This] announcement will provide needed funding for a regional aviation gateway that has tremendous opportunity to compete globally. The Prince George Airport Authority connects people to and from our region and facilitates seamless movement of air cargos.

“As someone who was on the frontlines in promoting our region and transportation opportunities throughout the world for over a decade – I can speak firsthand of the very real opportunity that is before not just Prince George, but our entire region.”

In his statement, Doherty also criticized the Liberals’ “failure to address Canada’s faltering position in the global economy,” however.

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Quesnel Cariboo Observer