Councillor fights to keep island airport debate alive

Jim Karygiannis has written to Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau asking that Ottawa not slam the door on jets at Billy Bishop.

Thestar.com
Oct. 22, 2015
By David Rider

Toronto councillor and former Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis is asking Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau to keep the island airport debate alive.

In an open letter to Trudeau released late Tuesday, Karygiannis quotes a Star story in which re-elected Liberal MP Adam Vaughan says Porter Airlines’ proposal to expand Billy Bishop airport to allow jets is effectively dead.

Vaughan told the Star that Trudeau’s office signed off twice on his platform that included Ottawa refusing to expand the airport - when he ran in Trinity-Spadina in a 2014 byelection, and won, and when he successfully ran in Spadina-Fort York in Monday’s election.

Karygiannis, the MP for Scarborough-Agincourt until 2014, wrote to Trudeau: “In looking over the Liberal party platform, nowhere did I find this matter addressed. As a former liberal Member of Parliament and a member of the GTA caucus, I cannot remember us having taken a firm policy decision on this issue.

“I am writing to ask why Mr. Vaughan is speaking on behalf of the government elect on such an important issue which affects citizens of Toronto without consulting city of Toronto council? This appears to ignore the process which city of Toronto council voted upon.

“Should he be correct in his statements, I ask when did your stewardship as Prime Minister-designate start without consulting citizens of Toronto on such an important issue?”

In an email to the Star, Karygiannis added: “I would like to have a clear answer from Justin. We should also make sure that this is the wish of the citizens of Toronto. Vaughan's NIMBY approach just does not fly with a lot of people.”

Porter airlines, which operates out of the island airport, is also asking Ottawa to let the process proceed.

City council, including then-councillor Vaughan, voted 44-0 in April 2014 to delay decision on the expansion that cannot happen unless the city, PortsToronto, and the federal government that oversees PortsToronto all agree to reopen a tripartite agreement on the airport near the foot of Bathurst St.

Council attached several conditions to keeping the door open, including PortsToronto providing an environmental assessment and details of the runway extension, and Transport Canada confirmation that the current harbour safety zone, where boats are excluded, would not need to grow. Longer runways would be needed to accommodate jets.

After the council vote, both Porter and expansion opponents including Vaughan claimed victory. PortsToronto now says its studies would be ready for council in early 2016 but it does not know the Liberal government’s position.

Vaughan told the Star on Tuesday, after the Liberal majority win, that: “We will not reopen the tripartite agreement.”

Stopping island airport expansion featured prominently in the campaigns of both Vaughan and his prime opponent, the NDP’s Olivia Chow.

Expansion proponents say jets, allowing direct flights to destinations including Miami and Vancouver, would increase convenience for Torontonians and boost economic activity at the popular airport.

Opponents say a huge boost in traveller traffic would harm a Bathurst Quay neighbourhood already plagued by heavy traffic, including taxis, while the 550-metre runway extension would disrupt both boating and the shoreline environment.

One of the biggest airport expansion proponents on city council has been Norm Kelly, another former Scarborough Liberal MP. He served from 1980 to 1984 under Trudeau’s father, then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau.