The federal and provincial governments have announced additional financial support for airports that serve remote First Nations communities in Northern Ontario. The funding was announced Friday by federal transport minister Omar Alghabra, Ontario Indigenous Affairs minister Greg Rickford and Ontario transportation minister Caroline Mulroney.
A news release said the feds are investing $5.1 million to support essential air access to remote communities and Ontario is investing $14.5 million toward the cost of operating remote airports in 2021/2022.
The investment is in addition to the more than $11.1 million in federal funding and the $14.2 million in provincial funding already provided in 2020/21 to maintain essential air services and to operate airports in remote communities in Ontario, said the release. The province also provided a further $4 million to ensure continued safe operations during the pandemic.
Queen's Park said the additional support is in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has created unprecedented challenges for Northern and remote First Nation communities which depend on supply chains for the delivery of essential goods and services.
The Ontario ministry said the funding will help maintain minimum levels of air transportation services to remote First Nation communities in Ontario to ensure continued access to essential goods and services, including community resupply of food and medical supplies.
The release said that through the funding agreements for the Remote Air Services Program, a fixed amount of funding is allocated to each province or territory that has remote communities. Provinces and territories are responsible for allocating the funding to specific air carriers, since many remote communities have no year-round road service. Ontario's Ministry of Transportation owns and operates 29 airports, 27 of which support remote First Nation communities.
In many cases, the airports are the only safety link the communities have to the outside world in the event of floods and forest fires.
