Four months ago, this celebration \u2014 a marching band, a flotilla in the harbour, signs emblazoned with \u201cBirds: 1, Jets: 0\u201d \u2014 seemed unlikely.<\/p>\n
Premier Doug Ford<\/a> had reignited a contentious Toronto debate \u2014 announcing plans to expand the runway and bring jets to Billy Bishop Airport.<\/p>\n \u201cToronto is very closed-minded. They don\u2019t want economic growth, they don\u2019t want more jobs, they\u2019d rather keep everything status quo,\u201d Ford told reporters in an aircraft hangar at Billy Bishop in March. \u201cWe want to create jobs and economic opportunities for the people of Canada, Ontario and Toronto.\u201d<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t clear what had set Ford on a course to push for jets at Billy Bishop, but things seemed to start in his favour \u2014 from internal polling suggesting weakening opposition to, if not tepid support for, the project from residents, to a seemingly open reception from the prime minister.<\/p>\n After quickly passing legislation to\u00a0take over the city\u2019s place in the agreement governing the airport,\u00a0the only hurdle left to clear had been federal approval.<\/p>\n Today, the plan is in shambles.<\/p>\n Late Friday, as first revealed by the Star<\/a>, federal Minister of Transport Steven MacKinnon announced Ottawa would not pursue expansion \u201cat this stage.\u201d<\/p>\n And so it was that a vision for an expanded airport serving 10 million passengers a year (requiring jets landing every two and a half minutes) that had barrelled down the runway came to a screeching halt.<\/p>\n Boat flotilla at HTO Park on July 26.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sophie Bouquillon\/Toronto Star<\/p>\n Been there, done that<\/p>\n Toronto has been here before.<\/p>\n When Porter Airlines unveiled its proposal to fly larger jets out of Billy Bishop back in 2013, public opinion varied widely.<\/p>\n Proponents, arguing it would benefit the city\u2019s economy, and opponents, highlighting noise and health concerns,\u00a0flooded<\/a>\u00a0and clashed at town halls.<\/p>\n The proposal to extend the runway by 168 metres on each end was ultimately killed by the federal government in 2015 \u2014 a key promise Justin Trudeau\u2019s Liberal party pledged and delivered once elected.<\/p>\n Advocacy group NoJetsTO formed out of that first public battle. They partnered with other\u00a0civic resident associations and community groups to\u00a0later form Waterfront For All.<\/p>\n Thirteen years later, the stakes were even clearer.<\/p>\n Di Pasquale said in 2013, when the debate lasted 2.5 years, \u201cWe were working with people\u2019s imaginations. We didn\u2019t have a revitalized waterfront.<\/p>\n \u201cNow we do, and I think people have fallen in love with it.\u201d<\/p>\n A decades-long restoration project opened Toronto\u2019s largest green space in a generation last year, Biidaasige Park. Creating a massive waterfront park out of land once so polluted it drove away wildlife required a marvel of engineering: carving out a $1.4-billion river valley in the Port Lands to reconnect the Don with Lake Ontario.<\/p>\n Andrew Williamson\/Waterfront Toronto<\/p>\n Those in favour, meanwhile, saw an opportunity for airline competition, job creation, making travel easier for business and tourists, and economic growth and post-pandemic economic recovery.<\/p>\n During the renewed debate, neither the provincial government nor the Toronto Port Authority would release a detailed business case, a comprehensive environmental assessment or a plan. Questions such as how the $5-billion project would be paid for remained unanswered. All of these things drew criticism and became points of contention.<\/p>\n Toronto’s federal Liberal caucus, which holds nearly all of the seats in the city, was\u00a0facing\u00a0persistent<\/a>\u00a0criticism<\/a> for months for treading carefully<\/a> on the controversial debate while its cabinet considered the issue.<\/p>\n A \u2018power grab\u2019 gets council up in arms<\/p>\n Ford first made public that he was setting his sights on the island airport at an unrelated February event with the Toronto Region Board of Trade.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to bring jets in, smaller jets, whatever, until people can hop on there,\u201d the premier said.<\/p>\n At the time, and often after, he cited internal polling<\/a> that reportedly showed overwhelming support for the idea.<\/p>\n City council, residents and advocates \u2014 some of whom were involved in the 2013 fight against jets \u2014 immediately questioned the internal poll\u2019s findings and slammed the Ford government on its \u201dland grab<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen countless polls on this issue over the years. Generally, it\u2019s split,\u201d said Di Pasquale, who was involved in the 2013 debate.<\/p>\n Quickly, some of the previous opponents mobilized.<\/p>\n \u201cThe very day he announced it, we had our website up an hour later,\u201d Di Pasquale said. \u201cIt was 80-hour weeks for the first month and a half for me. Relentless. Because we had our email up, we had petitions up, we had people calling, emailing, asking for signs, shirts, brochures. And I had to refresh all of our materials from 2015.\u201d<\/p>\n Norm Di Pasquale, project manager of NoJetsTO addresses the crowd gathered at HTO Park for their Waterfront Celebration Rally and march on July 26.<\/p>\n Sophie Bouquillon\/Toronto Star<\/p>\n The federally mandated Toronto Port Authority quickly backed Ford\u2019s idea<\/a>, and warned that the airport\u2019s governance \u2014 which involved the port authority, the federal government and the city \u2014 needed to be streamlined, because major changes required agreement from all parties, including at city hall, where there could be opposition.<\/p>\n In late March, Prime Minister Mark Carney described Ford\u2019s idea as a \u201dvery interesting vision<\/a>\u201d with \u201cbig possibilities there,\u201d around the same time MacKinnon highlighted the airport\u2019s value when speaking to the Empire Club.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was devastating to hear,\u201d\u00a0Di Pasquale said, remembering some MPs releasing early statements that seemed to be in favour.<\/p>\n A subsequent poll conducted by Liaison Strategies, in collaboration with the Star, in April found Torontonians were fairly evenly split<\/a> on the idea, but a strong majority thought residents should get a say \u2014 with most of the opposition coming from downtown residents.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is what a power grab looks like,\u201d Chow had said. \u201cA province that doesn\u2019t like the answer we gave \u2026 so it changes the rules and takes what it wants.\u201d<\/p>\n Melinda Montgomery with her chocolate Labrador, Otis, at Sunday\u2019s rally to celebrate Toronto\u2019s waterfront and the \u201cwin\u201d over the Billy Bishop debate.<\/p>\n Mark Colley\/Toronto Star<\/p>\n Various councillors tore into the move and players. Some even tried to get a referendum<\/a> onto this October\u2019s ballot.<\/p>\n Coun.\u00a0Paula Fletcher was curt with MPs, telling them to: \u201cSpeak up!\u201d Coun. Josh Matlow called Ford\u2019s idea \u201cbombastic and reckless.\u201d Coun.\u00a0Dianne Saxe called the jets fight \u201cthis generation\u2019s Spadina Expressway<\/a>,\u201d\u00a0referring to the acrimonious fight over a superhighway in Toronto intended to connect downtown to northern suburbs. Coun.\u00a0Brad Bradford noted \u201cbackroom deals and negotiations\u201d keep resulting in \u201cdecisions made for us but without us.\u201d<\/p>\n Shortly after, the federal government\u00a0opened an online survey and engagement sessions for seven weeks. It\u00a0drew flak from critics<\/a> as a \u201cwaste of time\u201d without a detailed plan.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat they underestimated was the amount of pushback, I think, from their own constituents,\u201d Di Pasquale said. \u201cWe made it clear to people that the federal government holds all the cards here.\u201d<\/p>\n Between various groups\u2019 petitions, emails, letters, phone calls and visits to MPs\u2019 offices,\u00a0Di Pasquale estimated about 40,000 pieces of correspondence to MPs opposing the expansion.<\/p>\n A public debate about infrastructure<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a fascinating example of infrastructure discussions happening in public,\u201d said Toby Lennox, a former executive at the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, which\u00a0operates Pearson Airport, in an interview.<\/p>\n Lennox tipped his cap to advocacy groups Environmental Defence, NoJetsTO, Parks Not Planes and Waterfront For All \u201cbecause they mobilized very quickly,\u201d but also said the vision, scale and costs weren\u2019t good ideas.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd as I say that, the one thing that drove me crazy \u2026 was we never saw the plans they were talking about,\u201d Lennox continued. \u201cI kept scratching my head and saying, \u2018Well, where are they going to put all this stuff and could you even start doing that at any cost that makes it remotely viable?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Boat flotilla at HTO Park for NOJetsTO Waterfront Celebration Rally and march, Sunday, July 26, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sophie Bouquillon Toronto Star<\/p>\n Lennox explained that even a more modest runway expansion requires making sure the terminal building can accommodate aircraft and passengers, which means massively expanding ground access and all the utilities (storm and sanitary sewers, electrical supply, de-icing facilities) that serve it.<\/p>\n \u201cYou are left with a huge piece of infrastructure, and you have to feed the beast.\u201d<\/p>\n A turn of the tides<\/p>\n Pressure was mounting, in the form of public petitions, town halls, waterfront rallies, Queen\u2019s Park protests and spilled ink.<\/p>\n Citizen watchdogs filed complaints<\/a> with all three levels of government accusing Nieuport Aviation, the owner of the Billy Bishop airport terminal, of breaching lobbying rules by failing to disclose its relationship with multitrillion-dollar American investment group, J.P. Morgan.<\/p>\n Prominent Torontonians launched an online information campaign<\/a> as \u201cammunition\u201d for the public to use in their responses to Ottawa\u2019s consultation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
The city is opening more of Biidaasige Park in the Port Lands to the public on Friday, but <\/p>\n Meanwhile, the port authority was creating its plan, promising to release details by sometime next year.<\/p>\n Chow\u00a0accused the port authority<\/a> of \u201chiding\u201d its \u201csecret plans\u201d after meeting with her, given its CEO had said the provincial and federal governments had already seen preliminary drafts. Key details did emerge \u2014 a more than 600-metre expansion, a price tag of up to $5 billion to quintuple passenger count to 10 million a year, and that J.P. Morgan could have a stake in it \u2014 revealed in \u201cdrips and drabs through the media,\u201d Chow said.<\/p>\n On Friday, Torontonians noticed the federal government\u2019s survey closed early. Some thought it was a technical error.<\/p>\n As it turned out,\u00a0the federal government had already made its decision. Its public consultations showed Torontonians were solidly against the idea: roughly 87,000 people participated, with 80 per cent of responses coming from Toronto. Among those who participated, 87 per cent opposed any changes to the airport.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou spoke. We listened,\u201d wrote<\/a> MP Julie Dzerowicz, chair of the federal Liberal Toronto caucus.<\/p>\n Di Pasquale was only a few minutes into watching \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d in a theatre when his phone started buzzing. The first text was from a friend: \u201cWow, Norm. We won. It\u2019s over.\u201d For nearly three more hours, he said, his phone rang non-stop.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was\u00a0just an incredible relief and elation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n A crowd marches along Queens Quay from Harbour Square Park to HTO Park for NoJetsTO\u2019s waterfront celebration rally and march.<\/p>\n Sophie Bouquillon\/Toronto Star<\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s rally, planned before the news broke, turned into a party.<\/p>\n Hundreds of attendees marched along the Martin Goodman Trail to HTO Park, where dozens of kayaks, canoes and sailboats waited just offshore to join in the celebration.<\/p>\n A marching band gleefully played and sang \u201cDown by the Riverside,\u201d only with new lyrics: \u201cWe\u2019re going to kick Doug Ford \u2026 out of the waterfront.\u201d<\/p>\n Jennifer Materne, who wore a red \u201cDon\u2019t Mess With Our Waterfront\u201d shirt and paper crown to Sunday\u2019s waterfront rally, asked: \u201cHow could anybody even think about doing this to our public park, to our cottage in the city?\u201d<\/p>\n The fight for Toronto\u2019s waterfront may not be over<\/p>\n For most, the celebration came with a caveat: the fight for control over Toronto\u2019s waterfront might not ever be over.<\/p>\n Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria interpreted<\/a> Friday\u2019s rejection as a delay rather than a cancellation.<\/p>\n John Gradek, a former Air Canada executive who teaches aviation management at McGill University, said he expects \u201ca lot more political pressure\u201d to be put on the federal government.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the latest salvo. Never say never,\u201d said Gradek.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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