Federal transport minister nixes Billy Bishop island airport expansion plan

TORONTO – It seems the plan to expand Toronto’s Billy Bishop island airport is dead in the water.

Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau issued a statement on Twitter Thursday evening saying the Tripartite Agreement that bans jets from flying to and from the island airport will not be reopened.

“As the new Minister of Transport, I have been enjoying learning about my files, including re: Toronto Island Airport,” Garneau wrote in a tweet.

“I confirm that GoC position is same as LPC commitment: we will not re-open tripartite agreement for YTZ.”

Toronto city council has been debating whether to allow Porter Airlines to fly new jets at the island airport by expanding each end by 200 metres.

Porter Airlines has already signed a conditional deal with Bombardier to buy up to 30 CS100 jets contingent on the city’s approval of an expansion.

PortsToronto, the owner and operator of Billy Bishop Airport, said in a statement they were undertaking a series of studies at the request of elected officials to inform future debate on the topic.

“These studies are being paid for by PortsToronto – and not taxpayers – and we are close to completing our work and endeavouring to provide final reports to City of Toronto staff and council in early 2016 per our commitment to do so,” spokeswoman Deborah Wilson said.

“To date we have received no direct communication from the Minister, or other representative of the federal government, regarding how the government would like to proceed in this matter and no communication from Toronto City Council that would indicate that the studies are no longer required or that the results are no longer important to its process, constituents and understanding of the airport.”

Some Torontonians were worried about the noise, inconvenience and possible environmental effects of the proposal.

Citizens group NoJetsTO has been actively fighting Porter’s plan since it was first announced.

“The federal government was elected on the promise of stopping the jets on our waterfront and we are happy they stand by their word,” said NoJetsTO Chair Norman Di Pasquale in a media release.

“It’s a pivotal moment for the future of our waterfront that is the result of 2.5 years of citizen-led action.”

Trinity-Spadina councillor Joe Cressy has been an outspoken opponent of the plan and applauded the government’s position.

With files from The Canadian Press and Mark Carcasole