Fond du Lac airport getting $12M in safety upgrades

The isolated community of Fond du Lac is getting a big boost to its airport thanks to funding from the federal government.

Minister of Indigenous Services Seamus O’Regan announced $12.1 million will be directed to the remote northern Saskatchewan airport to rehabilitate the asphalt on the runway, taxiway A and main tarmac.

The money will also be used to purchase and install a better approach path indicator system for the runway, new edge lights for the runway and taxiway and new floodlights for the tarmac.

The announcement comes after heavy lobbying from the community following a fatal crash by a WestWind Aviation plane on Dec. 13, 2017. The crash just after takeoff claimed the life of a 19-year-old man and injured 25 others on board.

“In my heart, I’m very sad … about what brought us here,” Fond du Lac Chief Louis Mercredi said at a media event at Saskatoon’s John G. Diefenbaker International Airport.

In May 2018, Mercredi had called the airstrip in Fond du Lac “substandard,” noting it put his people in danger every time they flew in or out of the community.

On Thursday, he noted 95 per cent of travel to and from the northern Dene First Nation is by air – and the number is increasing as they rely less on their winter road.

“Due to the rapid, growing impact of climate change our ice roads are becoming less predictable and dependable on an annual basis,” he said.

In announcing the funding, O’Regan emphasized he knew how important air travel was to northern communities by remembering back to his days living in Happy Valley-Goose Bay in Labrador.

“Those of us who have lived in the north know that air travel isn’t just about business, and it isn’t just about pleasure – it’s about survival,” he said.

“But once you’ve built infrastructure to survive, you can use that infrastructure to thrive.”

There’s no timeline on when the upgrades will be complete.