The City of Cold Lake was in the dark about the federal government’s plans to move the Aerospace Engineering Testing Establishment (AETE) from 4 Wing Cold Lake to possibly Ottawa or Montreal.
Up until last week, Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland said he knew very little about their intentions.
“With the conditions of the economy right now, us losing that many positions in our community, even though it could be as little as 50, that’s still 50 high-paying jobs, housing, and people that have mortgages and houses in Cold Lake,” Copeland expressed.
The municipality had been aware that the government was conducting a study about AETE.
Fort McMurray-Cold Lake MP David Yurdiga explained, “We heard in late 2015, early 2016, that they were doing a study on how to be more efficient with taxpayers money regarding the military. We knew they were doing a study, but the decision to move AETE out of Cold Lake, that was a shocker.”
Although they haven’t received formal confirmation, or any other information about the relocation, it’s estimated there could be a loss of anywhere from 50 to 150 positions.
“The government isn’t really pegging a number down for us. We don’t know when it’s going to happen, or even where it’s going to be relocated,” Yurdiga said. “It’s quite shocking. As everyone is aware, our economy isn’t doing very well right now. Losing one job is one job too many.”
While some employees will move along with the facility, others could be transferred to another squadron.
Copeland described Cold Lake as the perfect location for the AETE.
“I don’t know how you get any better than 4 Wing Cold Lake,” he expressed. “We’re not thrilled with this decision. The Air Weapons Range is a great playground for them to be testing these components on.”
With this announcement came a promise from the federal government that there are “a lot of infrastructure dollars coming into the Wing,” Copeland detailed.
“How much more can Alberta take? We’ve seen more layoffs in the oil and gas industry, we’ve seen small businesses failing, we’ve seen other bigger companies downsizing. This is news that we didn’t want to hear, especially right before Christmas. There’s so much uncertainty in Cold Lake now with CFB possibly losing 50-plus jobs,” Yurdiga said. “It really breaks my heart, and my colleagues’ hearts, to hear that.”
