Cressy: Airport EA useless without permanent caps

Dennis Hanagan –

Contrary to what some people might think no decision has been made about the future of Toronto Island airport, Ports Toronto Executive Vice-President Gene Cabral told a public meeting in late January at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

6

Porter Airlines, the airport’s lead tenant, is proposing extending the runway and adding jets. Ports Toronto, Transport Canada and the City of Toronto are signatories to the Tripartite Agreement that governs the airport.

“The reason we’re doing these studies and the reason we’re doing all this work is to inform ourselves and everybody, every key stakeholder. No decision has been made” regarding the proposal, said Cabral.

Ports Toronto is conducting an Environmental Assessment of the proposal looking at potential environmental, social and economic effects and wanted public feedback at the January meeting. Another EA public meeting is planned for March.

After some social media reports Cabral said he wanted to clarify that the runway proposal calls for a 200-metre extension to the 100 metres of non-runway land that already exists.

“There was a suggestion through social media that that had changed somehow. I can assure you that is not the case,” said Cabral. He said the proposal would convert the 100 metres of empty land to a runway with the 200-metre extension.

During questions and answers a woman in the audience said that in terms of climate change the EA should also consider the need to keep green space and not just what greenhouse gases would be emitted under Porter’s expansion proposal.

“Climate change is not just about greenhouse emissions, climate change also stresses the need for increased green space in the light of climate change. There’s a lot more to say about climate change than just greenhouse emissions,” she said.

The first of the Tripartite parties to receive the EA report will be city council. “If they ultimately decide to proceed with changes to the Tripartite Agreement that’s when it would be taken to the Ports Toronto board,” said Cabral.

He said the noise certification of the Cs100 jets that Porter wants to use will be available likely in the second half of 2015. “The city has made it very clear they want the noise certification first before (a) decision is made,” said Cabral.

On the topic of passenger and flight caps, Downtown councillor Joe Cressy said council said it wanted permanent caps, but he saw no mention of that in a report handed out at the MTCC meeting.

“I’m trying to wrap my head around how you can conduct an environmental assessment without looking at caps,” Cressy said. “I see very little sense in continuing any of these studies unless there is a willingness to find permanent caps.”

Cabral answered Ports Toronto feels it’s “premature” to get into a discussion on permanent caps.

With that, Councillor Pam McConnell said council stipulated it would not consider anything “until we have a conversation and an agreement on further caps. That’s what council said and it had to be permanent.”

A man in the audience suggested Ports Toronto was in a conflict of interest by managing the EA process. Cabral said Ports Toronto is the owner and operator of Billy Bishop Airport and its major tenant Porter has made the proposal.

“We as the owner-operator have to do our due diligence (with) the various studies that we’re commissioning here,” he said.