Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague from Charlevoix. I congratulate him on the excellent work he is doing on the transport committee. His question gives me the opportunity to tell the House about a scandal that occurred at the Sept-Îles airport.
Money is not spent on enhancing security in the transportation industry, as the hon. member for Charlevoix pointed out. When I was city councillor, we were told that the airport was being transferred to us.
I was against the project, because the airport, which was located in my ward, came with an annual deficit of $2 million, $2.2 million to be exact. However, the city council met and I was there when we were told “Give us five minutes and we will explain how you can get rid of the $2 million deficit”. I said “You have been running a $2 million deficit every year for 30 years now. That is $60 million. Why were these measures not taken before today?”
They started by saying “We have a firefighting service with trucks and 9 firefighters that we pay for year round and have never been put to task. Besides, if there were a fire, there would not be enough pressure, as there is not enough water. We have a pumper, but it is not powerful enough. We have to get help from the Sept-Îles firefighters. There were two fires and both times the firefighters from the city of Sept-Îles were called to do the work. So we will get rid of the firefighting service and save almost a million dollars”.
We were told that there were three airstrips and only one was in use. It is 1,000 feet longer that the average strip and 50 feet wider. It can handle a departure and a landing every ten minutes. We could save $800,000.
There was a restaurant that took up a whole floor and cost $300,000 in heating bills. We were told it could be moved downstairs, that service would be better and the savings would be $200,000.
So, they reduced the deficit and there will even be a small surplus this year. This goes to show how the money was utterly wasted at Sept-Îles airport. However, security services are being cut, even though we have had fatal accidents.