Potential ‘victims’ query Island airport EA assessment honour

Siobhan Geary —

York Quay residents remain skeptical about the proposed Island airport expansion’s environmental assessment, despite a detailed presentation on March 11 from AECOM, the company hired by Ports Toronto to perform the assessment. Ports Toronto is the government business enterprise that owns the Island airport.

According to AECOM associate vice president Marvin Stemeroff, AECOM will first survey Torontonians in order to assess the value they’ve placed on the waterfront independent of the airport.

Explaining the first stage of the assessment, Stemeroff said that he is not interested in what people think about the airport at this point. “I want to understand, unbridled, their view and value of the waterfront. Is it a resource or an asset that has value for them?”

The assessed value would then be weighed against the airport expansion’s projected impact on the waterfront and presented to Ports Toronto to help clarify their options.

“I want to understand the objectives, goals and aspirations of Torontonians in an unbiased, unfettered way so I can apply these objectives against the proposal and what the implications might be,” said Stemeroff, “We are going to tell a story that identifies consequences both good and bad. We are hired to clarify choice.”

Many residents were concerned about the validity of this survey. Some worried that without acknowledging the airport expansion, the survey would paint an incomplete picture and fail to gauge an appropriate response. Others criticized it for neglecting to consider areas outside of Downtown Toronto, but under the flight paths.

“It’s myopic because myself and the thousands of other Mississaugans live closer to the flight-line than most of the people the environmental assessment survey will poll,” said Port Credit resident Ian Gardner, “Yet, they’re stopping the consideration at Etobicoke Creek where Toronto ends and Mississauga begins.”

The recurring question was whether AECOM could be truly objective in their assessment given that they were hired by Ports Toronto which gleans around 70% of its revenue from the Island airport. Stemeroff, however, claims that AECOM staff are professionals and would not allow a conflict of interest to jeopardize an arm’s length assessment.

“I’ve done this for over 30 years. I get hired by mining companies to do environmental assessments. Sometimes they get an answer they don’t like,” said Stemeroff, “I don’t tailor a result for anybody because then I would not be standing here, earning a living doing this.”

Many residents, however, remained unconvinced.

“I would like to think that the environmental assessment will really do a bang up job, but to me, it’s like putting the fox in the henhouse,” said York Quay resident Claire Sparks, “They [Ports Toronto] hired the people to do the environmental assessment. I’m not saying they’re not professional, but let’s face it: You don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”

The next public meeting to discuss the environmental assessment will run from 9:00am to 4:00pm on April 11th at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre’s South Building.

A public meeting to discuss the expansion master plan and runway design will run from 5:30pm to 9:00pm on March 31st at the Allstream Centre.