Mr. Speaker, the government is downloading small regional airports throughout the country. Two airports have already been turned over in my riding and now a third is on the federal hit list.
Some of the biggest users of the Fort Nelson airport are the federal and provincial governments, forestry workers, water bombers and American tourists on their way to Alaska.
Fort Nelson is in the northeast corner of B.C. next to the Yukon border and hundreds of kilometres from any other towns. The people of Fort Nelson are going to referendum December 6 to vote on whether they can afford to take over the local airport. The population is only 4,500, a small town with a big heart. Yet the federal government wants the town to pick up the tab for an airport that runs a $400,000 annual deficit.
Why is Fort Nelson being forced to assume the cost of operating its airport but other northern communities like Whitehorse, Watson Lake and Yellowknife are not?