I am pleased to table this motion. If you have read it, you see that it is very important for municipalities all across Canada. As you know, aeronautics is under exclusive federal jurisdiction. However, municipalities and provinces have their own responsibilities in relation to land use planning, protection of agricultural land and municipal planning. That is where a degree of conflict arises: between the existing Aeronautics Act and the powers of the municipalities and provinces.
As you may know, I was made aware of this problem after a private aerodrome was built in my riding, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier. Private developers bought some agricultural land in the little town of Neuville and decided to build a small aerodrome for private aircraft. The residents are opposed to it and have been opposed from the outset, as is the municipal council. The purpose of my motion is to show that municipalities' hands are tied, because they are not involved in the process for constructing an aerodrome within their boundaries. The public is not involved in any way either.
In this case, there are in fact significant considerations in Neuville. The landing strip has been built barely 200 feet from a home. The planes pass extremely close to there. The municipality tried to initiate discussions with the developers and find a compromise. Discussions were in fact held.
A memorandum of agreement was signed between the municipality and the developers. Its objective was to regulate the aerodrome's activities. They did not discuss the location, but this was an agreement made between the municipality and the developers. Among other things, some clauses called for there to be as few overflights of the municipality as possible.
I live in Neuville myself, and I can tell you that is not what has happened. The agreement is not sufficient to regulate the activities, even though the developers made commitments. The people who use the aerodrome at present do not always follow the rules. And so there is a glaring problem for municipalities, which cannot manage land use within their jurisdiction as they wish. The provinces are also unable to manage land use and protect agricultural land, which is increasingly scarce as cities expand.
For this reason, I would like the committee to consider this issue. I am open to discussions to try to satisfy all parties. However, there clearly needs to be changes made to the Aeronautics Act to help the municipalities and provinces play their proper role and exercise their powers. I think that in order for a federation to function, we have to make sure it is flexible and cooperative. I think there are ways to harmonize the powers of each level of government to make sure there is full participation and full exercise of each one's powers. That is what this motion is trying to achieve in relation to the Aeronautics Act.
I support this motion and I urge you to do the same. I hope we will be able to discuss it and perhaps make important changes to the Aeronautics Act, to help Canadian municipalities. Neuville is not the only place where this is happening. In fact, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities will be addressing this issue at its annual conference in Saskatoon in June. Clearly, this is an issue of concern to many municipalities all across Canada, and maybe also to your constituents. That is why I am submitting it to the committee.