Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to be here a third time on the same topic. As the member mentioned, she has asked a couple of questions on it before.
On May 15, I talked about the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities actually meeting last March with the representatives of the City of Longueuil, the Saint-Hubert Airport Development Corporation and Pratt & Whitney. They presented a proposal for runway enlargement and expansion as well as other improvements to the Saint-Hubert airport. We do believe it is a good project.
Among other things, it was pointed out at that time that not all of the other modifications being proposed for the airport meet the criteria of the airport capital assistance program, which of course is intended for all airports across every province and every territory in Canada. All Canadians should benefit from this program and that is the intention of this government.
This program provides assistance to eligible airports in financing capital projects related to safety, asset protection and operating cost reduction. It includes precise criteria, which is very well laid out in the program itself, to ensure the safe use of aircraft used for regular flights, which is so important to Canadians.
This program provides investment of approximately $30 million per year. About 100 airports in Canada actually share that financing. In Quebec alone, around 30 airports that meet the criteria of this program, including Saint-Hubert airport, share in that funding. It is not a lot of money to go around to every airport across Canada and we have to be fair to all Canadians in all provinces.
As for Saint-Hubert, the aircraft used for regularly scheduled flights, the Pilatus 12, only requires 4,500 feet to operate safely. This standard applied across Canada is to provide equitable funding, as I said, and to rehabilitate only the length of runway necessary to ensure safety. Safety is the concern for ACAP funding. Safety is first; it comes before all else across Canada equally.
In the current context, Transport Canada is not in a position to finance the entire project presented by Pratt & Whitney and the City of Longueuil through ACAP, which is the only funding program currently available provided by the department. However, the department will conduct a careful review of the elements of this project that do fall under ACAP once a formal application has been made. There has not been an application made yet for any of this funding, so we would appreciate a formal application. It would be a good first step.
As for the concerns expressed by the member in regard to job losses, which she has expressed before, Pratt & Whitney has been specific that there will be no job losses. In fact, it is having a banner year and is doing very, very well. That, of course, was forwarded to the Montreal Gazette and indeed other newspapers in Quebec.
Those two documents, particularly the one document regarding job losses, sets the record straight for my colleague. Indeed, there were some questions raised by my colleague and other members on that side of the House.
Pratt & Whitney explained that as a user of the airport, the company was approached to support the project and to consider if it could find additional investment opportunities. The company did respond, “Whether it goes ahead or not, this project will have no adverse impact on Pratt & Whitney Canada's current manpower level”. Things will go ahead as normal for the company, and it is doing very well, we understand.
As for financing, given that this project does contribute, as I mentioned last time, to the economic development of the greater Montreal area, the government could assess such a request as part of another program under which it would become eligible under the criteria, once it has been included in the new budget. We are all waiting with bated breath to see what that new criteria is.
However, as the member already knows, if Canada--