Transportation Minister John Abbott says decisions have yet to be made on whether the province’s fifth waterbomber will be repaired.

The waterbomber has been out of commission since it was damaged in 2018.

Abbott affirms that “the intent right now” is to fix the aircraft, noting that they are assessing tenders. He will go to cabinet “in the near future” to make a decision on how to proceed.

He says it will be an expensive project, and they want to make sure in terms of a cost-benefit analysis that it is the right thing to do.

Abbott says the province can work “quite well” with four waterbombers, but the fifth adds extra security. As well, they need to weigh the impacts of climate change in the decision.