New Yellowknife airport improvement fee delayed, may not launch until July

The new fee travellers in the Northwest Territories expected to see on their plane tickets this month may not go into effect until this summer, if it does at all.

The N.W.T. Department of Transportation now estimates the $10-$20 airport improvement fee — which would help pay for upgrades and improvements to the Yellowknife airport — will be in place by July.

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But that's only if MLAs currently sitting in the legislative assembly pass the bill allowing for the new fee.

MLAs needed more time to review

The department was planning to introduce the fee in February 2017.

To do that, Bill 7: An Act to Amend the Revolving Funds Act, needs to receive the approval of a majority of MLAs.

But last fall the MLAs who sit on the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment said they needed more time to review the bill.

"We find ourselves in a situation where information crucial to understanding the changes enabled by the legislation was not available with sufficient time for the committee to complete its review," said the committee's chair and the MLA for Yellowknife North, Cory Vanthuyne, at the time.

"Given the level of public interest and the nature of changes proposed for the airport, it is necessary to understand the operation and administration of the revolving fund and for the committee to conduct due diligence in its review of Bill 7."

Review findings coming today

The findings of that review will be released Tuesday, paving the way for the third and final reading of the bill.

But at least one member of the committee has already flagged his skepticism about the fee and the overall program to improve the airport.

"Although the plan has been sold as a way to unlock economic opportunity and develop much-needed air infrastructure, this poorly implemented plan is designed first and foremost to get an expensive piece of public infrastructure off the government's books and to have it paid for by consumers," said Kieron Testart, the MLA for Kam Lake, in the assembly last week.

As for the fees: "I do not know how this plan supports our goal of reducing the cost of living for Northerners," he said. 

People leaving the Yellowknife airport to travel north would pay an extra $10 on their tickets, while those headed south would pay an extra $20.