Many locals, including the aptly named lobby group Community AIR (Airport Impact Review), strongly oppose the expansion due to the inevitable increase in air and noise pollution, among other safety concerns. Their claim that the expansion will hinder the recent initiatives by the government to revitalize the waterfront area is not unsubstantiated.

When the city recently slapped a cease and desist order on the installation of some lights on the mainland, I could not keep from chuckling to myself a little. Could you? Apparently a lot of digging was being done on land that is merely leased to the port authority, while owned by the city. Now, this of course, is just an extension of the farce that occurred in 2002, with the construction of the lift bridge being approved and workers being turned away due to confusion at City Hall over who signed what, and when!

Really! What are we to think when safety concerns are clearly fortified by events such as the crash of the small aircraft into the Belaire Condo building in Manhattan, and, the much more relevant and ever so unforgettable catastrophe of the brand spankin’ new airport ferry (both ironically occurring on the same date, October 11 2006)? On the poor new ferry’s maiden run no less, what was supposed to be a mere 1 minute trip ended up as such a fiasco when the snazzy, “porkly” representation of taxpayers’ dime spun out of control for a full 27 minutes, and even crashed back onto the mainland before finally docking at its intended destination (the island). Port authority officials were given the ride of a lifetime!

Are we amused yet? I, myself don’t know whether to laugh, or to find someone to slap!

Now, here is something I just can’t quite seem to understand. When the expansion plans were stopped in 2003/2004, and the federal government negated the original authorization for the bridge, REGCO Holdings had promptly sued the city for breach of contract. Since this lawsuit wound up being thrown out, what really was the propellant for the donation to the TPA of 35 million dollars by the federal government? Was it maybe for the maintenance of the TPA? So that they might be able to settle with (thereby further funding) Porter Air? And carry on with the subsequent advancement in the expansion proceedings?

Hmmm… This just might take me ‘til the next election to figure out!

Nevertheless, who really knows what is going on with the Toronto City Centre Airport. I honestly do not know what Mel Lastman was thinking (or if he even was thinking), but I do wholeheartedly agree with David Miller in consistently fighting any expansion whatsoever of this airport, for the obvious, and not so obvious reasons. At any rate, even if the design and foundation of a grand $5 million dollar ferry, built for traversing the “world’s shortest scheduled ferry run” (as recorded by Guinness) cannot be relied upon, blessed are we in this great city, in which there actually exists a second airport. A more consistent, finer and more advanced airport, which I do believe has never required the use of a ferry for access.
- Kevin Dass