Good morning. Thank you for the invitation to appear before you as part of the pre-budget consultations.
My name is Greg Hierlihy. I am the director of finance and administration here at the Saint John Airport. I bring remarks on behalf of the Atlantic Canada Airports Association.
Over the past few decades, aviation has played a critical role in creating a much more global and connected world. With that, our airport runways have quickly become the most important main streets in many of our towns and cities throughout Canada. Airports and air travel are so important to trade and economic growth here in our region. I'd like to touch on that, as well as discuss some of the challenges our airports face.
First, let me start by saying thank you for your support of our 2018 budget submission. A number of our region's airports have received infrastructure funding support for safety-related projects, including our airport here in Saint John, which has begun preliminary work on a $20-million runway rehabilitation program. This support was made possible through the Government of Canada's new national trade and transportation corridors initiative. Through a special stream of safety-related funding for the north and small NAS airports, four airports in Atlantic Canada were successful in receiving much-needed infrastructure support to ensure that they can support growing traffic in a safe and secure manner for decades to come.