CommunityAIR - devoted to restoring the lands and harbour now occupied by the Toronto Island airport to park, recreation, and cultural uses.

Family physician, Dr. Pieter Jugovic describes the health effects on residents due to the expansion of Toronto Island Airport. He discusses the impact of air pollution, noise, and traffic on the health of Toronto residents. In particular he focuses on how air pollution has an impact on children and people with respiratory problems. He suggests that citizens need to voice their concerns with politicians about the pollution impact on this community.

Brian Iler on the Expansion of the Island Airport

Toronto Port Authority Announces Major Expansion of Island Airport

On the afternoon of Christmas eve, the busiest holiday of the year, the Toronto Port Authority announced a major expansion of the Island Airport. The Port Authority is anticipating that there will an increase of between 42 and 92 new commercial flights operating out of the Island Airport— an increase of between 35% and 77% over the current commercial flights operated by Porter Airlines.

By the spring of 2010 Porter will have 21 aircraft operating out of the Island Airport, and other commercial operators are being invited to apply for access to the airport. This will make it one of the busiest airports in Canada.

Members of CommunityAIR have long feared that the once tiny Island Airport was on the brink of a major expansion that will seriously affect the quality of life for those that live and work on the Waterfront and much of downtown Toronto. Unfortunately it appears that this prediction will become true as early as the coming summer.

A large, polluting airport within two kilometres of the city downtown will ruin the quality of life of all Torontonians.

• Porter now has 20 aircraft. By the summer of 2010 it is expected that the Island Airport will have 212 slots. That means 212 take-offs and landings will be allowed every day. This will mean there will be on average one movement ever 4.6 minutes during airport operating hours. During the peak hours of the morning and evening there will be about one take-off or landing every minute.
  
  
• Billions of public- and private-sector dollars are being invested on the waterfront. One hundred thousand people will live on the waterfront and another 100,000 will work there when the project is completed. A busy airport with hundreds of daily flights is incompatible with redevelopment.
  
  
• The island airport is an unsafe, inadequate facility. The runways are too short, the stopways are inadequate, bird strikes are common, and “pilot cautions” list several hazards from high rise buildings and smoke stacks around the airport.
  
  
• Short-haul flights cause more pollution than any other form of travel. A flight from Toronto to Ottawa by a Porter Q400 releases 2,865 kilograms of CO2. Car traffic generated by the airport is bringing more air pollution to the nearby neighbourhoods.
  
  
• Bombardier Q400 airplanes such as those used at the island airport have had serious safety problems. Scandinavian Airways and All Nippon Airways of Japan have experienced safety problems with the Q400 landing gear.
  
  
• Millions of dollars of government subsidies have gone to Bombardier, the Toronto Port Authority and the island airport. Porter Airlines has received $20 million from the federal government. Why are the taxpayers subsidizing a polluting airport and private companies?


• High-speed trains must replace short haul flights along the Toronto/Ottawa/Montreal/Quebec City corridor and to other major centers.  This will reduce air pollution, eliminate safety problems and move people efficiently.
  
  
• Porter Airlines should relocate to an airport where it can adequately serve its customers and reduce pollution in the high-density downtown neighbourhoods. Lands currently used by the airport should then be turned over to more environmentally friendly purposes.
  
  
• The 215 acres of land occupied by the island airport provide a unique opportunity to create exciting parks and public facilities accessible to millions of people.
  
  
• The expanded island airport has been imposed by the Toronto Port Authority against the wishes of the majority of the people of Toronto.