Toronto Council Pushes for Return of Airport Land

Toronto city council voted on Wednesday to urge the Ford government to return land it took from the city for a proposed expansion of Billy Bishop Airport, after the federal government recently turned down the province’s request to move forward with the project.

Council supported the emergency motion, put forward by Mayor Olivia Chow, with a vote of 25-1 at Wednesday’s meeting. The motion asks the province to repeal the Building Billy Bishop Airport Act, which was enacted in May.

This law includes provisions that remove Toronto from the tripartite agreement managing the island airport and allows the province to take over areas of land nearby for expansion. The act specifies eight parcels of land that cover almost the entire island and include parts of waterfront spaces like Little Norway Park.

The province had previously stated it would only take what was necessary for expansion. However, Chow pointed out significant local opposition to those plans when she introduced her motion for discussion on Wednesday.

“Over the past months, tens of thousands of residents, community leaders, people from all walks of life spoke out about what Toronto’s waterfront has meant to them,” Chow said.

These groups “made it clear that protecting our waterfront matters,” she added.

Last Friday, Transport Minister Steven Mac Kinnon announced that the federal government would be “exclusively” focused on approved safety upgrades already in progress at Billy Bishop instead of expanding the airport for jets.

WATCH | Mayor Olivia Chow’s emergency motion on Billy Bishop explained:

‘Return our waterfront’: Toronto mayor says after feds reject Billy Bishop expansion plans

The federal government states it won’t back Premier Doug Ford’s plans for expanding Billy Bishop Airport to accommodate jets. As CBC’s Shawn Jeffords reports, Toronto has now filed an urgent motion seeking its land back, including Little Norway Park.

In response, Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria claimed Tuesday that the federal government had given in to “fringe groups.”

“If this is how they’re going to treat bigger projects, I don’t think you’ll get much built,” he said during a news conference in St. Thomas, Ont.

Sarkaria insisted that the expansion isn’t off and promised they would continue pushing ahead with their plan, although it’s uncertain how they intend to do so.

Chow and Bradford Clash Before Vote

The discussion leading up to voting on Chow’s motion lasted hours and included a heated exchange between Chow and Coun. Brad Bradford as both are running in upcoming mayoral elections.

Bradford questioned Chow if her office had been lobbied regarding the island airport weeks before the province revealed its expansion plan-a question reporters also asked her earlier before council convened. She didn’t directly answer either time but accused Bradford of having previously “championed” a runway expansion plan.

“At some point you need to make your decision clear. Which side are you on?” Chow asked.

“Let’s not confuse the issue; you sound confused,” Bradford shot back while repeating his question again.

In response, Chow stated neither she nor her staff were aware of what Toronto Port Authority intended concerning the airport.

The only councillor who opposed Chow’s motion was Stephen Holyday representing Etobicoke Centre.

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