Mr. Speaker, today I will be speaking—“Not again”, some may say—about the Saint-Hubert airport. Perhaps you will not say it, but the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities will undoubtedly say it or at least think it. I have been asking questions about this for a few months. My Bloc Québécois colleagues, my leader in particular, and I have asked the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec a number of questions about development plans for the Saint-Hubert airport.
This development plan is extremely important, not only for the future of Saint-Hubert but also for the future of the south shore and its economic development.
The runway must be lengthened by 1,200 feet and widened, and the tarmac must be improved and upgraded. Larger aircraft must be able to land at Saint-Hubert and with good reason, including the fact that Pratt & Whitney Canada, with some facilities located at Saint-Hubert, is carrying out engine test flights and shortly will purchase a new wide-body aircraft.
Pratt & Whitney has changed the type of aircraft it uses for its engine test flights, and these new aircraft require a runway that is 1,200 feet longer. In any case, even without Pratt & Whitney the Saint-Hubert airport would have to undertake this work.
The federal government was asked to contribute $70 million. The Minister of Transport told me, “For the first phase we are talking about $9.5 million; and for the second phase, $60 million. We have to sit down and talk”.
Obviously that means they have to sit down with the various departments to decide together how to come up with the other $60 million. Indeed, it seems there are currently enough programs to invest $9.5 million in the Saint-Hubert airport.
That is my first question for the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. Is the $9.5 million investment a sure thing?
Furthermore, I think I understand that the minister does not want to commit right now to the entire project without being sure of having the $60 million for the second phase. But I want to know whether things are rolling along. Who is he talking to? What developments are there in finding subsidies for the Saint-Hubert airport?
The minister's response that I cited, concerning $9.5 million for the first phase and $60 million for the second phase, was obtained on May 6. Today is June 5. It has been almost a month. Perhaps this evening we could celebrate the first anniversary of this response, but it has been too long.
It is time to see some developments, to hear the minister's representative confirm that the Saint-Hubert airport file is still on the top of the pile. Who is he talking to and who is he sitting down with? When will we get an answer?
I have a suggestion as to where and when we could hear the answer: here and now.