TIMMINS – Officials from the Canadian Armed Forces say due to a lack of qualified staff to maintain it, the Gliding Unit hasn't been in operations for three years.
Community members like Patrick Shea, with fond memories of his time in the Air Cadet program, fear the Canadian Armed forces will close it down entirely.
"The reason that this situation exists is… I'm going to be blunt… is neglect and lack of vision and lack of planning. There is no reason why it should not be possible to recruit, maintain, develop pilots in northern Ontario," said Shea.
Although Shea expresses concerns, officials at the Armed Forces say they do plan to resume operations in 2020. They say staffing issues and maintenance have delayed the process.
"We have no intention of leaving Iroquois Falls. Are we challenged by things? Yes, we are and we're working our way through that. What are we doing to mitigate those types of things or what are we doing in addition? We're providing all sorts of other aviation-related training activities in northern Ontario," explained Lieutenant-Colonel Barry Leonard, Regional Cadet Support Unit.
Air Cadets can still fly at centres in North Bay, Timmins, Trenton and Sudbury, but Shea says it can be more difficult to travel to those locations.
Retired Major Bill McCarthy helped start the program in Iroquois Falls and says operating a gliding program doesn't require much while young people get a lot out of it.
"They learn a lot. And when they find out that they had a 25-minute flight or a 40-minute flight… they brag about that for a long time because if you do it, then it's something. It's a challenge to do it," said McCarthy.
Cadet officials say while issues can arise that affect their ability to deliver these services in northern communities, they say they are working on getting the Iroquois Falls Gliding Program running next fall.
Their next course of action is bringing machinery from the centre down south for maintenance.
