As Saskatchewan grows, the need to get from place to place in the province grows as well. The Wings of Saskatchewan conference, held jointly between the Saskatchewan Aviation Council (SAC), the Saskatchewan Aerial Applicators Association (SAAA) and the Canadian Business Aviation Association (CBAA) - Saskatchewan Chapter, is an annual event to meet and discuss topics relevant to the aviation industry. This year's conference was in Yorkton.
The three day event featured a trade show and presentations on topics relevant to the aviation industry. The focus this year was on the airports themselves, and the sustainability of smaller airports in the province.
"Airports are a big issue. We have over 100 airports in Saskatchewan, they range from major airports to small local airports," Don Macpherson, from SAC says.
The conference was held in Yorkton because the city is representative of the importance of an airport in smaller centres, Macpherson says.
"The city is interested in renewal and expansion, and recognizes the economic value of the airport, unlike a lot of places in the province. A lot of people don't realize they have an airport." He notes that airports in the province are necessary for services such as air ambulance, and that keeping air service available is important for the economy, especially in a province as spread out as Saskatchewan.
"It's amazing how much we travel, how many people travel and how much cargo travels by air," Macpherson says.
This year's conference has been a successful one, and Macpherson says that Yorkton has been a welcoming and energetic host city. He believes conferences such as this are important, as it gets information out about how important aviation is in the province, and allows people throughout the industry to get together and discuss the many issues aviation faces.
With the focus on smaller airports, Macpherson notes that regions need to work together to help renew their local airports.
"Various regions of the province need to get together and work together. For example, Yorkton's airport services Yorkton, but it services a lot of other communities as well. If we work together in this province on the airport side, we can lobby more effectively to the federal government and to the provincial government towards the improvements we want to make," Macpherson says.
The importance of aviation in the province is evidenced by the towns and regions which are doing well, Macpherson insists.
"If you look at the economic development of this province, the cities and towns that have maintained airports are the ones that are thriving. They don't have an airport because they're thriving, they have a city or town because they have an airport. The world is changing so rapidly that having an airport is more important than it ever was before."
Conferences like this are important, Macpherson believes, because they emphasize what having an airport can mean for a province and a region. With the economy in Saskatchewan growing as it is, airports will become increasingly important as more business comes in to the country.
"Somebody came up with an expression at this conference. A mile of highway can take you a mile down the road. A mile of runway can put you in touch with the ends of the earth," Macpherson concludes.
