After greater than a half century in limbo, the federal authorities has deserted plans for an airport at a web site in Pickering, Ont., and can as a substitute look to switch land to Parks Canada.
After greater than a half century in limbo, the federal authorities has deserted plans for an airport at a web site in Pickering, Ont., and can as a substitute look to switch land to Parks Canada.
Transport Minister Anita Anand mentioned a brand new airport was not the very best use of the realm northeast of Toronto and the federal government intends to switch the “excessive conservation worth lands” to the company that manages nationwide parklands.
“We are going to quickly start public consultations to find out future makes use of, making an allowance for the area’s best wants,” she mentioned in an announcement Monday.
A battle over the way forward for the land in Pickering has brewed since at the very least 1972 when Pierre Trudeau’s authorities expropriated about 18,600 acres for a doable airport web site. The transfer sparked protest, and the federal government put the plans on maintain three years later in favour of increasing the province’s already-built airports.
Metropolis council and opposing advocacy teams have since wrestled over how the land must be used. A part of the land overlaps with Ontario’s protected greenbelt space, and a conservation group has advocated for what’s nonetheless held by the federal government to be added to the Rouge Nationwide City Park.
Prior to now decade, the federal government has transferred greater than half the land to Parks Canada for the creation after which the growth of the park.
However Transport Canada held on to about 8,700 acres of the land for a possible future airport. The federal government says properties have since been leased to residential, farm and business tenants.
Consultations shall be held with the general public, Indigenous communities and the tenants within the “coming weeks” to find out future use of the lands, the federal government mentioned.
Pickering metropolis council voted in 2023 to formally withdraw its assist for the airport plan. It cited a Transport Canada-commissioned report that concluded southern Ontario wouldn’t want a brand new airport earlier than 2036.
The one vote towards the movement was solid by Mayor Kevin Ashe, who steered the airport could be a serious financial driver to assist assist the town’s projected inhabitants growth.
The mayor didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Jan. 27, 2025.
Jordan Omstead, The Canadian Press
!operate(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=operate(){n.callMethod?n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.model=’2.0′;n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, doc,’script’,’https://join.fb.web/en_US/fbevents.js’);fbq(‘init’, ‘349446665948516’);fbq(‘observe’, ‘PageView’);
