Paving Dawson City Runway Still on the Table

Tuesday, 16 May 2017 08:47

Libs waiting for functional report on paving before making a decision, but Transport Canada says there's no point.

Premier Sandy Silver (Klondike) is blaming the former administration as to why he may not be able to fulfill a campaign promise to his community to pave the Dawson City runway.

That commitment was outlined in the Liberals campaign platform, but hit a major stumbling block, only months in to his mandate, when he conceded to the Dawson City Chamber of Commerce in March the project may not proceed.

According to the Klondike Sun, Silver told constituents March 17, that the government was awaiting a functional plan, which he stated was 75 percent complete and that paving was not going to get underway this summer.

Air North has pressured for a better runway in Dawson City, so their larger aircraft can land, bringing more tourists to the Klondike in the summer.

Yet according to the report, Transport Canada says paving the runway will not bring the airport into compliance to allow larger aircraft to land. That’s apparently when Silver brought up options for the airport’s future, such as moving it, paving the runway or keep the runway as is.

Despite his new-found predicament, Silver still blamed the Yukon Party for his commitment. “We all know where this story started — the previous Premier at Roundup announcing great news: “We’re going to pave the runway.” That was a Yukon Party promise at the Roundup 2016. But what we’re finding out is that the homework wasn’t there as far as Nav Canada, as we heard from the Minister of Highways and Public Works, but also the money wasn’t there and it wasn’t figured out from the Yukon Party government. Unfortunately, as a new government, we are forced to pick up the pieces on yet another project that could have been dealt with years ago.”

However, Geraldine Van Bibber (Porter Creek North) says it sounds as if Silver is backing away from his campaign pledge. “He said the Yukon government will not just consider the needs of one single company or airplane; it has to be a good business decision and not a political one. It is starting to sound like the Premier is backing away from his clear promise to Yukoners and the clear commitment made in his platform. Will the Premier reiterate his support for this project and tell us when they will pave the Dawson City runway?”

Highways and Public Works Minister Richard Mostyn (Whitehorse West) was a little more optimistic about the project. “Honest-to-goodness at this stage, we're nowhere near saying no to paving the Dawson City runway.

We're looking at options to get that job done.” The government has budgeted $250,000 for planning into the Dawson City airport this year, yet the long term budgetary projections do not include the airport or runway.

(Dan Jones May 16, 2017)