Mr. Speaker, I truly understand the concerns of my colleague, the hon. member for York—Simcoe, and his constituents, and I commend him for his advocacy on their behalf.
The Georgina aerodrome will be a new construction. Canadian Aviation Regulation 307—Aerodromes—Consultations applies to new aerodrome development and requires the operator to undertake a consultation process with the interested parties. The public consultation phase ended on December 22, 2021. The proponent will then send a summary report detailing its consultation process to Transport Canada for review to determine if it meets the regulatory criteria.
Contaminated fill has been an issue at aerodromes in Ontario in the past. Transport Canada's responsibility is to ensure the safety of air operations in our country. It does not regulate the quality of fill used at aerodrome sites. This would fall under the purview of Environment and Climate Change Canada or the province, depending on the land use authority. Aerodromes are also subject to provincial laws, with some exceptions. For instance, if the developer of an aerodrome deposits fill on the aerodrome lands, such fill would have to meet provincial guidelines.
Determining who is responsible for an environmental contamination on airport lands is a case-by-case situation. In the context of the development of the Georgina aerodrome, the private owner could be held responsible for any environmental contamination resulting from activities where contamination is on the aerodrome lands and/or escapes outside of those lands.
The member's question also provides me an opportunity to talk about the great work that Transport Canada is doing to help protect Canada's environment. For example, budget 2019 provided $700 million to support the increased uptake of zero-emission vehicles, including $300 million for a new purchase incentive program and $265 million to encourage business fleets to switch to these cleaner vehicles. As of September 1, 2021, more than 114,000 Canadians and Canadian businesses have benefited from this point-of-sale incentive, which will help reduce emissions by up to 160,000 tonnes each year. The funding also includes $130 million to increase deployment of zero-emission vehicle infrastructure. This is in addition to the more than $180 million invested in expanding the coast-to-coast network of electric vehicle fast chargers on Canada's national highway system. That is just one example of the many significant measures our government is taking to protect our environment.