To the Editor,
Re: Airport targets federal money for expansion, Nov. 27.
Some background that taxpayers should be aware of before being asked to join Nanaimo Airport Commission president and CEO Mike Hooper in his joy at the prospect of the Nanaimo Regional Airport, once more, having a letter of support from the local government in an application for public infrastructure funding.
The Area A official community plan of 1998 explicitly identified the airport as being situated on land not zoned for airport use. While previously received federal and provincial moneys (in excess of $20 million dollars) have been used to expand the airport, there have been no zoning changes to the property that might allow for those physical expansions to the airport’s infrastructure.
Thus, despite how much certain entities might wish to see the Nanaimo Regional Airport expanded into a bigger and more capable facility, shouldn’t taxpayers be able to insist that all of the several levels of government involved impose a due respect for statutory prerequisites? Lest the law be drawn into disrepute by the perceived arbitrariness attached to this particular, local enterprise?
David S. DunawaySouth Wellington