![]() Other stakeholders included Manitoba Hydro and Centreport Canada, but noticeable in their absence, were government representatives, especially from federal departments such as saying Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, Ministry of Transport and Natural Resources and Environment, all invited but unable to attend. Other aspects of airship operation were also examined, including research and development in an emergent industry as exemplified by the work of Canada’s National Research Council, regulatory considerations worldwide and infrastructure needs for manufacturing and northern operations. While the North West Company took an active role, air carriers were more limited in their participation, although offering data and background information as part of a panel discussion. Throughout the two-day event, the northern chiefs were active participants in Q&A sessions and panel discussions linking them with the shippers, stores and air transport representatives who work in the north. ![]() It’s time we look at all solutions and although I have yet to see a cargo airship in Manitoba, we need to look at this.” Prentice and Kevin Carlson, former MKO housing capital and transportation advisor, acted as co-chairs and set up the parameters of the event as being a “working conference.” Chief Ron Evans, Grand Chief for the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, set the tone of the assembly as being “… important for us to do what we can to ensure that our people are healthy and have the best conditions of life. Not surprisingly, each presentation at the event showcased a potential winner, albeit focusing on the specific advantages of a particular design.ĭr. In order to set out a real-life scenario, each airship company in attendance was presented with a homework assignment – hauling 50 tonnes of building supplies for a northern school. The lack of reliable, cost-effective transport delivery systems has created cost-of-living realities that have kept generation after generation in preventable poverty.”īuilding on the recent 2013 Cargo Airships For Northern Operations workshop held at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, this past July, “Remote No More” brought together the leading exponents of the Lighter-than-air (LTA) industry with the people who live and work in Manitoba’s north. Prentice explained, “It’s the Manitobans who live north of 65 who understand that transportation is an integral and everyday problem. The merging of stakeholders, government and industry also involved the traditions and heritage of the First Nations people with participation from elders and community members, incorporating the unique aspects of northern life into the proceedings.Īs Dr. The first tangible evidence of the new collaboration of northern stakeholders and ISO Polar was an initiative of the Wabung Development Limited (the MKO’s business development arm) in association with MKO and the Government of Canada in co-sponsoring the “Remote No More: Cargo Airships Conference” this past Oct. ![]() Harper said he believes airships could be a reality in Manitoba in three to five years. Prentice, the 25-metre prototype will test out the potential for future cargo airships in the North. Although the MB80, dubbed Giizhigo-Misameg (“Sky Whale” in the Oji-Cree language), is an experimental blimp built by Buoyant Aircraft Systems International and ISO Polar, headed by Dr. Barry Prentice at the University of Manitoba’s recent unveiling of an experimental MB80 airship, pledging to work together for the development of cargo airship technology. This explains why Chief Harper, representing Manitoba’s northern chiefs organization, was standing next to Manitoba transportation expert and airship advocate Dr. The Aeroscraft Dragon Dream airship is a rigid-type cargo airship designed to carry 66 tons of cargo or more for both military and civil applications. More crucial is the exorbitant price of building materials resulting in a housing crisis in the North. With nearly every commodity shipped or hauled up north through winter roads or flown in by an expensive network of regional air services, the cost of a two-litre carton of milk can soar up to six dollars or more. David Harper, grand chief of the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO), knows first-hand how difficult it is to live in Manitoba’s far-flung reservations and remote communities.
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