English Google Translation Below
Aéroport de Gatineau: Jacques Bélanger propose des vols au Canada et aux États-Unis
Louis-Charles Poulin | 19 mars 2024
00:00/03:40
Un candidat à la mairie voit grand pour l’aéroport de Gatineau. Jacques Bélanger propose d’y instaurer des vols commerciaux directs à bas prix vers le Canada et les États-Unis. Selon lui, les revenus générés permettraient de stabiliser les taxes municipales.
Selon Jacques Bélanger, l’aéroport de Gatineau a le potentiel de transporter 1 million de voyageurs vers les États-Unis et l’Ouest canadien annuellement. C’est donc 1 million de voyageurs qui payeraient une taxe d’aéroport d’environ 25$, qui dépenseraient dans les commerces à proximité, en plus de créer des emplois de transporteurs et de douaniers. Selon lui, ça représente plusieurs millions de dollars en retombées pour la Ville.
Pour se faire, s’il est élu, l’homme d’affaires veut négocier une entente entre la mairie, l’aéroport de Gatineau et l’aéroport métropolitain de Montréal, à St-Hubert. M. Bélanger veut justement s’inspirer de ce qui se fait à St-Hubert, où Porter investi environ 240 millions $, selon lui, pour réaménager le terminal.
La candidat à la mairie croit donc qu’il serait possible un jour de penser pouvoir s’envoler de Gatineau vers Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Boston ou New York, par exemple.
Invité à réagir, son adversaire à la mairie Daniel Feeny a préféré ne pas commenter cette annonce. L’autre candidate confirmée, Olive Kamanyana, se demande d’où proviennent les chiffres avancés par M. Bélanger lorsqu’il parle des retombées de son projet.
Le conseiller municipal, Mike Duggan, présent lors de l’annonce a confirmé son appui à Jacques Bélanger à la mairie.
De plus, Jacques Bélanger confie avoir enregistré un nom pour un futur parti politique, qui s’appelle Vision Gatineau. Il partage avoir enregistré ce parti si jamais Action Gatineau décide de bloquer ses projet, dans l’hypothétique qu’il serait élu comme maire.
Ainsi, M. Bélanger se présente comme indépendant pour l’élection partielle à venir, mais il pourrait se représenter sous la bannière de Vision Gatineau en 2025.
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A mayoral candidate is thinking big for the Gatineau airport. Jacques Bélanger proposes to establish low-cost direct commercial flights to Canada and the United States. According to him, the revenue generated would make it possible to stabilize municipal taxes.
According to Jacques Bélanger, the Gatineau airport has the potential to transport 1 million travelers to the United States and Western Canada annually. That's 1 million travelers who would pay an airport tax of around $25, who would spend in nearby businesses, in addition to creating jobs as transporters and customs officers. According to him, this represents several million dollars in benefits for the City.
To do this, if he is elected, the businessman wants to negotiate an agreement between the town hall, the Gatineau airport and the Montreal metropolitan airport, in St-Hubert. Mr. Bélanger wants to draw inspiration from what is being done in St-Hubert, where Porter invested around $240 million, according to him, to redevelop the terminal.
The mayoral candidate therefore believes that it would be possible one day to think of being able to fly from Gatineau to Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Boston or New York, for example.
For two seconds, I imagine a travel agency saying we currently have tickets for the Stanley Cup in Philadelphia. Departure from Gatineau this evening and return at the end of the evening, a charter flight. It's going to be amazing for sports fans.
-Jacques Bélanger, candidate for mayor of Gatineau
Asked to react, his opponent at town hall Daniel Feeny preferred not to comment on this announcement. The other confirmed candidate, Olive Kamanyana, wonders where the figures put forward by Mr. Bélanger come from when he talks about the impact of his project.
We must be careful of misinformation. When we have figures, we must cite them. We really have to make sure that during this campaign, every time we say something, that we can prove it, that we can give the source so as not to be mistaken or to deceive the population.
-Olive Kamanyana, candidate for mayor of Gatineau
Municipal councilor Mike Duggan, present at the announcement, confirmed his support for Jacques Bélanger for town hall.
In addition, Jacques Bélanger confides that he has registered a name for a future political party, which is called Vision Gatineau. He shares that he registered this party if Action Gatineau ever decides to block his projects, in the hypothetical that he would be elected as mayor.
If it turns out that Action Gatineau decides to block me and my projects for the City, […] well, Vision Gatineau is already registered as a political party and it will come into existence quite quickly.
-Jacques Bélanger, candidate for mayor of Gatineau
Thus, Mr. Bélanger is running as an independent for the upcoming by-election, but he could run again under the banner of Vision Gatineau in 2025.
