City council votes on Tuesday (April 1, 2014) on whether to proceed with the expansion of Billy Bishop Airport. Those opposed to jets on the island are asking supporters to target eight undecided councillors who will hold the key to the outcome. No-Jets Toronto is asking members to send mail to the eight. Four of the councillors are from the South Bayview area. They are Karen Stintz, Jaye Robinson, Josh Matlow and Josh Colle. The other four are Scarborough members: Raymond Cho, Michelle Berardinetti, Gary Crawford and Chin Lee. The last ditch effort against what many see as an inevitable march towards a “Toronto LaGuardia Airport” runs in the face of polls showing many residents are at peace with jets on the airport. But some say the public is being bamboozled. Former mayor and municipal statesman David Crombie has suggested the jets issue is being used to cloud the reality that many airlines will insist on, and be granted, permission to use the airport. One can hear it in the New Speak of those in favour. The airport is a municipal asset that should be grown, says deputy mayor Norm Kelly. It is impossible for Porter Airlines to presume it can be the sole operator at a thriving downtown location like this. The issues are the noise and our irreplaceable island parkland. We hear the daily noise even now over South Bayview from the propeller craft. This was our unasked-for gift from City Council after decades of normal quiet in which most of the homes here were purchased. Those who cast this airport as an essential part of the vitality of the city are talking rubbish. Toronto became the jewel that it is with zero passenger service originating from the island.
La Guardia is a fair distance from the city. Ronald Reagan airport in Washington might be a better comparison. It has been there for years. The answer in Toronto is to build good transit to Pearson.