Victoria city councillors are treading warily after the federal government raised the possibility of turning the Inner Harbour aerodrome over to the city or another local group. Councillors are demanding a lot more information, and anyone else with grand ideas should be just as careful.
City councillors are being understandably cautious after receiving a letter from Transport sa国际传媒 that was described as 鈥渋nformal and exploratory in nature,鈥� and seeks an answer in only three weeks. The ministry is trying to find out if anyone is interested in taking over, as it tries to focus on regulating airports instead of running them.
It plans to separate the marine aspect of the operation from the airport; the two are currently handled by the harbour master.
The aerodrome is not like a regular airport, where the airport authority controls all the land. The Inner Harbour is a working harbour where pieces are owned or under the authority of the harbour authority, the Provincial Capital Commission, the federal government, the city and private owners. Even the 鈥渞unways鈥� are just imaginary lines on the water.
The planes flying in and out of the harbour have been a frequent source of controversy. With ferries, kayaks, pleasure boats, working vessels and all the other traffic that zips around the harbour, plus the close proximity of homes and businesses, friction is almost unavoidable.
Transport sa国际传媒 has been accused of being unresponsive and uninterested in concerns about noise, emissions and safety in the constricted waterway. It鈥檚 no wonder that the ministry is eager to drop it all in someone else鈥檚 lap.
Randy Wright, senior vice-president of Harbour Air, rightly cautions that Victorians might get more than they bargained for with a new operator. In his experience, a new management group will invariably find things to spend money on, and those costs will get passed on to the airlines and thus to customers.
Curtis Grad, CEO of the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, warns that the airport is not a profit-making operation. It鈥檚 like a highway or the ferry service, he says. The authority is not eager to take on the aerodrome.
The changes under a new operator could include moving the operations further west to reduce the clutter in the heart of the harbour. As Victoria Coun. Geoff Young has pointed out, that would push the traffic to Esquimalt鈥檚 side of the water. Esquimalt might welcome it or turn it down flat, but either way, it would be foolish for anyone in the region to try dumping something new on Esquimalt without consulting the township first.
Saanich should also be in on the talks.
Any discussions have to take into account the experience with the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority. The authority took over federal lands around the harbour, including the cruise ship terminal, when the federal government decided to turn such things over to local control.
The harbour group is certainly local, but it is set up as a non-profit society, so it鈥檚 not publicly accountable.
James Bay residents and others have long complained that the harbour board is not responsive to concerns of local people and seems to operate like a private club, answerable only to itself. Turning the aerodrome over to some remote and unresponsive local agency is no better than having it controlled by a remote and unresponsive Transport sa国际传媒.
However, if the air operations are handed to a local agency that is committed to listening to the many competing interests and to becoming part of the much-needed discussion on the future of the harbour, it could benefit everyone.
All the parties have to start talking about this new opportunity, but for the time being, Victoria council鈥檚 cautious course is the wisest one.
