CALGARY (NEWS 1130) – The Calgary Airport Authority says it’s not its decision, as a new petition calls for the airport to be named after outgoing prime minister Stephen Harper.
Just a week and a half ago, the Conservative government fell to the Liberals in an historical federal election.
It’s not uncommon for airports to be named after former prime ministers. Several have already received the honour, such as Pearson, the first Trudeau, MacDonald, and Diefenbaker.
An online petition was set up a couple of days ago, calling on the CEO of the Calgary International Airport to rename it after Harper. So far, there have been around 6,000 signatures.
In the description, the person who set up the petition points out Harper was the longest-serving prime minister, representing a riding from the area. He’s hoping for 15,000 signatures.
But the Calgary Airport Authority says they don’t make any naming decisions; the names are chosen by the federal government since the airports are on federal land.
There has also been some backlash to the idea. A duelling petition wants to prevent any such renaming. It already has more than 16,000 signatures — almost triple the number of the original petition. The petition’s organizer has a goal of getting 50,000.