The Fond Du Lac Denesuline First Nation will be getting upgrades to its airport runway in the coming year.
According to an emailed statement from Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure spokesperson Steve Shaheen, the airport runway will receive the following upgrades: runway, taxiway and apron resurfacing, additional turnaround space for aircraft and lighting system improvements.
The project is expected to begin this fall and be completed within a year.
Chief Louie Mercredi said the upgrades are essential and a “long-time coming.”
“We are the most isolated community in Saskatchewan,” he said. “It’s [the airport] our lifeline and it definitely needed an upgrade for many years. The crash there, that’s when I started lobbying hard on upgrading the runway.”
The announcement of the project comes three years after a Westwind Aviation aircraft crashed just after take-off, leading to the eventual death of one person.
Mercredi said even though the runway wasn’t the cause of the crash, it still made him push harder for upgrades.
“I basically told the province and the federal government that I would not let my guard down until I see shovels in the ground. Definitely with the information that’s in place now, I can sense that it’s a reality for our people now.”
Mercredi said the airport is the community’s basic lifeline and the only way to get in or out of Fond du Lac for much of the year.
In the winter, once the lake freezes, an ice road is the other option.
However, he added the season for the ice road is getting shorter and shorter each year due to higher temperatures.
Shaheen said they won’t know the exact cost of the project until a tender is awarded.
The province has been able to secure $12.15 million in federal funding with highways responsible for the rest of the bill.
He said the ministry has been in planning for the project for over a year.
(PHOTO: Fond du Lac Denesuline First Nation Chief Louie Mercredi stands in front of a memorial in honour of those injured in a 2017 plane crash. File photo.)