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(L-R) Red Deer County Mayor Jim Wood, City Mayor Ken Johnston and federal Minister of Transportation Omar Alghabra at The Donut Mill in Gasoline Alley on Tuesday. (Red Deer County Facebook)
Airport opportunities

Red Deer city and county mayors meet with federal Minister of Transportation

Jul 14, 2023 | 4:04 PM

Red Deer City and County mayors met with the federal Minister of Transportation, Omar Alghabra on Tuesday to advocate for improvements to transportation infrastructure in the region.

City Mayor Ken Johnston said the minister was on his way from Edmonton to Calgary and reached out to the mayors for a meeting at The Donut Mill (123 Leva Ave.) in Gasoline Alley.

“We spent about 40 minutes with him and I thought it was 40 minutes well spent,” he said, joking that the the minister didn’t realize just how centred Red Deer was between Alberta’s two major cities.

As both mayors had just returned from the Paris Air Show in France, he said he wanted to continue the momentum by discussing opportunities at the Red Deer Regional Airport.

READ: Red Deer & Red Deer County mayors headed to France to showcase economic opportunities

Mayor Johnston said the show was a success, gaining contacts with various private sector investors, smaller aircraft companies, and some federal and provincial counterparts. Spending a majority of their time in the Canadian Pavilion, he said he and County Mayor Jim Wood were the only two mayors from Alberta and represented the only airport in the province.

He said they told the minister about local airport opportunities.

“We have an opportunity in central Alberta, I’d say Western Canada; we’re the only airport with 200 acres now of what’s called ‘airside developable land’. In other words, it’s approximate to the runways which is gold in the airline industry,” he said.

“That’s very rare because airports are quite developed. Look at Calgary, for example; if you’re looking to get near the airport, you’re probably, I would argue, three to five kilometres away from the airport itself now. It’s gotten so big.”

READ: Red Deer Regional Airport construction underway; airside land for sale

He expressed a desire to bring a customs office to the Red Deer Airport as they are currently outside customs boundaries from a geographical and traffic perspective. While the airport has an array of charter and freight traffic, he said planes currently have to get cleared in Calgary or Edmonton if returning from outside the country.

The mayor said he also discussed their interest in the federal Airports Capital Assistance Program (ACAP), which helps airports achieve safety compliance with proper lighting, roadways and other aspects.

Lastly, he said they spoke of high-speed rail and where it fit in terms of federal plans for improving railway systems from British Columbia to Saskatchewan.

Mayor Johnston confirmed they will be organizing a follow-up meeting with the provincial Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors, Devin Dreeshen, to further discuss the topics.

His first time meeting Minister Alghabra, Johnston said it was a pleasure to do so with Mayor Wood as they rarely get to meet with federal representatives. The only federal minister in Alberta is Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Tourism, in Edmonton.

“I said to the minister, the collaboration between cities and counties is not something that happens very frequently to the success that we’ve had. The County and the City continue to work well and he appreciated that because often, that’s a bone of contention,” he said.

He referenced the upcoming Red Deer Regional Air Show, where the City and County each invested $50,000, taking place this July 29-30.

rdnewsNOW reached out to Red Deer County Mayor Jim Wood for comments but did not hear back in time for publishing.