'It represents our commitment to the area': Moosomin airport to receive $4.1M upgrade
Moosomin is a community of just under 2,500, but it’s growing — and its newest future addition promises to help the community grow even more.
New upgrades have begun at the local Moosomin airport. With additional government and provincial funding, the project promises to bring economic spin-offs, and help with southeast medical issues.
Currently, the runway at Moosomin’s airport can’t support air ambulance crews. The new build will look to bridge that gap and allow for more movement to and from the community.
On Feb. 8, Nutrien earmarked $2.7 million to the new build. The province added an additional $1.4 million, bringing the total investment into the project to $4.1 million.
Numerous local donors also committed funds, with the project going through 17 different RMs and local communities to get to this point.
“What it’ll do in terms of timely medical assistance around the area is just unbelievable,” Jeff St. Onge, president of the Moosomin Flying Club, told CTV News.
Work has begun already, with half of the existing gravel runway now torn up.
St. Onge said the new build will include a new hangar, along with a new paved runway and will repurpose some existing areas.
For Nutrien, one quarter of its potash revenues comes from southeastern Saskatchewan.
According to Chris Reynolds, Nutrien’s president and executive vice president of potash, this is an investment rather than a one-off donation.
“This is an area that really important to Nutrien,” Reynolds said. “We’re really excited here and I think it represents our commitment to the area.”
Reynolds’s added that just 30 minutes away from Moosomin lies the largest potash facility in the world.
He said a big factor in approving the deal was the existing work the community has done with the project, showing it’s serious to create change for the southeast.
According to Reeve of the RM of Moosomin, David Moffatt, an additional $1.2 million is needed to finish the project.
“We have people ready to donate, and a lot of big industry too that are looking at doing this,” he said.
“With this facility here, I think we’re going to see bigger businesses coming to town … to make that transition of driving all day to a three hour trip [by plane] is huge.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A step forward': New screening criteria for sperm donors takes effect
Canadians looking to grow their families with the assistance of sperm or egg donations should soon have more options for donors as the federal health agency does away with longstanding restrictions criticized as discriminatory.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.
Ontario Provincial Police arrest 64 suspects in child sexual exploitation investigation
Ontario Provincial Police say 64 suspects are facing a combined 348 charges in connection with a series of child sexual exploitation investigations that spanned the province.
'Summer of discontent': Federal unions vow to fight new 3-day a week office mandate
Federal unions are launching legal challenges and encouraging public sector workers to file "tens of thousands" of grievances over the new mandate requiring federal workers to return to the office at least three days a week in the fall.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Watch fighter jet pilots pummel fake enemy ship off coast of Philippines
The United States and Philippines held annual joint-training drills just off the Southeast Asian nation’s western coast on Wednesday. Military forces sunk a 'mock' enemy warship – the BRP Lake Caliraya, which was a decommissioned tanker made in China.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his head more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
'Ozempic babies': Reports of surprise pregnancies raise new questions about weight loss drugs
Numerous women have shared stories of 'Ozempic babies' on social media. But the joy some experience in discovering pregnancies may come with anxiety about the unknowns.
Rookie goalie Arturs Silovs to start for Canucks in Game 1 vs. Oilers
Rookie goalie Arturs Silovs will start in net for the Canucks as Vancouver kicks off a second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday night.