Blasting the federal government for listening to “a small fringe group in Toronto,” provincial Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria insists the Billy Bishop expansion is not dead.
In the first public comments by an Ontario official since Ottawa announced Friday night that changes to the island airport would be restricted to planned safety improvements, and not to extend the runway to allow commuter jets, Sarkaria said Queen’s Park wouldn’t give up.
The minister said Tuesday the province was “disappointed with the statement that was released by the federal government” effectively kiboshing plans for a jet-accommodating runway extension.
“We’ve seen the federal government here listen to a small fringe group in Toronto, but we, as the province, will continue to push forward on modernization of this airport because it’s the right thing to do and it makes sense,” he said Tuesday at an unrelated announcement in St. Thomas.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government scuttled Premier Doug Ford’s dream of an expanded Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport late Friday within hours of receiving results of an online public consultation that found 87 per cent of 87,000 respondents were opposed to the idea.
The federal Liberals acted swiftly before Carney called three key byelections on Sunday for Aug. 31, including in the lakefront constituency of Beaches—East York.
Liberal MPs, who represent 23 of Toronto’s 24 federal ridings, have been taking heat for the airport push for months, thanks to an organized campaign by opponents of the scheme like Environmental Defence, which charged that expansion for jets at the airport “would bring noise, pollution and traffic gridlock, and wipe out thousands of new homes our city desperately needs.”
No officials from Ottawa have commented publicly since Friday’s announcement, with spokespeople for federal Transport Minister Steve MacKinnon on Tuesday deferring to his four-day-old statement.
The Toronto Port Authority, meanwhile, declined to weigh in when asked if it was still conducting an expansion feasibility study despite the Liberals’ retreat.
Federal sources, speaking confidentially to discuss internal deliberations, have told the Star a scaled-back Billy Bishop expansion could still be possible if it addresses Torontonians’ concerns and complements plans to expand Pearson International Airport and the Alto high-speed rail project.
That’s a glimmer of hope from Carney’s Liberals that Ford’s Progressive Conservatives are clinging to.
“As members of the tripartite agreement … Premier Ford and our government will continue to work towards a plan that is published by the Toronto Port Authority that supports the modernization of Billy Bishop,” said Sarkaria.
“We support that project because it’s a project that makes sense. Whether you’re talking about … air travellers across the province, we heard from communities in the North (and) hospital CEOs that this airport would create greater connectivity for those individuals,” said the minister.
“We heard from mayors in Eastern Ontario about how this project will support … their transportation needs as well.”
With Toronto city council set to debate a motion Wednesday urging the province to scrap Sarkaria’s Bill 110, the ”Building Billy Bishop Airport Act,” the minister was firm.
“No, we have no intention to repeal. As I said, we fully support the modernization of this plan that is going to be put forward by the Toronto Port Authority,” he said, noting the federal agency, which owns and operates Billy Bishop, has been pushing for its expansion.
Sarkaria’s bill, which passed the legislature in the spring, enabled the province to seize ownership of city-owned lands at Billy Bishop — in exchange for “fair compensation” — and usurped the municipality’s role in the tripartite agreement overseeing the airport.
Mayor Olivia Chow and city council oppose what she has dubbed a “land grab” by Ford.
At Queen’s Park, NDP Leader Marit Stiles, who, like the Liberals and Greens, voted against Bill 110, said “it was always clear that this was another half-baked plan from Doug Ford.”
“This premier’s obsession with Toronto has gone on long enough. Minister Sarkaria referring to the people who opposed this project as a ‘fringe group’ is a pathetic insult to the tens of thousands of people who fought back against this ridiculous project,” said Stiles.
“Doug Ford didn’t get his way, and his ministers are lashing out at constituents for using their democratic rights. We don’t need jets in the middle of Toronto. Bill 110 is still law, and Doug Ford has given himself the power to do whatever he wants with Little Norway Park and the Toronto Islands. It’s time for the premier to end this land grab, kill Bill 110, and return these lands to the city of Toronto.”
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