A Porter passenger plane takes off from the runway at Billy Bishop Airport in Toronto, on March 23.Cole Burston/The Globe and Mail
The Ontario government has introduced legislation that would fulfill Premier Doug Ford’s vow to expropriate the City of Toronto’s stake in its island Billy Bishop Airport, in an attempt to override local objections to expanding the facility’s runway to accommodate jets.
The bill, a move promised by the Premier last month, puts muscle behind his recent championing of long-dormant plans to extend the facility’s waterfront runway hundreds of metres into Toronto’s harbour in order to accommodate jet aircraft and millions more passengers a year.
Mr. Ford has said the changes are needed to allow Billy Bishop to compete with the larger Pearson International Airport and boost economic growth. He has also said he would use new powers to designate the airport as a “special economic zone,” a move that would allow the government to suspend any provincial or municipal law to speed up the expansion of the facility. But Mr. Ford said this would take place after consultations.
Both Ontario’s Premier and the topic of jets have been in the headlines for other reasons lately. Last week, the government bought a $28.9-million Challenger 650 jet for Mr. Ford’s use on trade missions and visits around the province, as well as, he said, for his ministers and other uses. But after a public outcry, he announced days later that the plane would be sold. He has denied the purchase was related to his plans to intervene in and expand Billy Bishop Airport.
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With the legislation introduced by his Transportation Minister, Prabmeet Sarkaria, the province would take ownership of the city’s airport lands, removing the municipality from the 43-year-old deal that governs the airport, known as the tripartite agreement.
The deal, signed by the municipality, the Toronto Port Authority (a federal agency) and the federal government, currently bans jets but allows the turboprops now flown in and out of the airport by Porter Airlines and Air Canada.
The province said the bill would also result in the expropriation of one-third of city-owned Little Norway Park, on the mainland across from the airport.
Asked whether the park would be demolished, Mr. Sarkaria told reporters that the airport was an “expansive project” and that it was common for airports to protect land around them. He said Ontario would work with the city.
His spokeswoman, Dakota Brasier, later told reporters that the portion of Little Norway Park being taken would remain a park. She said it was being expropriated because it was part of the city’s airport lands.
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Mayor Olivia Chow has long opposed airport expansion, and city council, which recently voted against any unilateral expropriation, had a confidential report on its agenda on Thursday on its legal options to fight the move.
Speaking to councillors shortly after the legislation was tabled, Ms. Chow said the province was seizing land to pave it for parking – and dismissing the “democratic voice” of the city. She said Toronto has seen no detailed proposal from the Ford government.
“That is what a power grab looks like,” Ms. Chow said, accusing the province of changing the rules to take what it wants.
At Queen’s Park, NDP Leader Marit Stiles called the legislation reckless and said the Premier’s plan puts the future of the Toronto Islands at risk.
“Who is asking for this? Certainly not the residents of Toronto’s waterfront and neighbourhoods along Lake Ontario,” she said in a statement.
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Local activist groups have long warned that extending the runway into Lake Ontario to allow jets, and more frequent flights, will harm Toronto’s waterfront boating areas, trails, parks and residential neighbourhoods. Lower jet flight paths are also expected to torpedo plans for high-rise housing in the city’s Port Lands.
The federal government has yet to approve the plan.
Few details have been made public about how much longer the runways need to be, or how much more of Toronto’s harbour would be shut off to boaters as jets swoop in.
Mr. Sarkaria told reporters he did not know how long the runways would need to be but that this would be worked out with the Toronto Port Authority and Transport Canada.
The port authority told The Globe and Mail last week that its expansion plans have not been finalized, and it did not provide any other information about the proposal to allow jets at the airport.
More than a decade ago, Porter Airlines had pushed an expansion plan that would have extended the runways by 200 metres on each end to allow jets.
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However, that proposal predates new, stricter Transport Canada rules for runway safety zones meant to accommodate planes that overshoot landings.
The city had already agreed to alter the tripartite agreement to allow the airport to add 150-metre safety buffer zones at each end of the runway, needed for Billy Bishop to continue its current operations, with turboprops, not jets. These zones must be completed by next summer.
The Ontario government has said the expansion plans could see the airport handle 10 million passengers a year, double previous expansion plans and five times the current annual number, which is approximately two million.
Neither the province nor the port authority have provided specifics on any changes that would be made to handle the increase, such as expanding the island airport’s terminals or the pedestrian tunnel and ferry service that connect it to the mainland.
Last month, Mr. Ford had said that the city would be compensated for lost revenue from expropriating the airport, which he said was about $5-million a year. The bill says the expropriation will provide the city compensation based on market value, and refers any dispute to binding arbitration.