Re: Island airport success, Editorial, April 28
Your editorial touted what has succeeded at the island airport. Allow me to complete the accounting by listing some of the failures. These failures are a blight on the waterfront and by no means should they be celebrated.
Curfew violations. Porter planes have landed after the 11 p.m. airport curfew, without penalties being levied by the Toronto Port Authority.
Excessive noise has been an ongoing problem for residents living along the waterfront and elsewhere in the city. The Toronto Port Authority has acknowledged this through the creation of a noise management committee tasked with mitigation strategies, yet has gone ahead with airport expansion prior to the results of this committee being tabled.
Taxi queueing issues. Despite assurances that many passengers would travel by bus or streetcar to reach the airport, most Porter travellers seem to travel by taxi. This has resulted in major problems with taxis taking over the neighbourhood, often racing down area streets and idling as they wait for fares, immediately next to a park, community centre and school.
The noise, the pollution and the behaviour and impact of airport traffic are having a horrendous impact on the communities I represent.
Adam Vaughan, City Councillor, Ward 20 - Trinity Spadina
Porter Airlines announcement of its $45 million expansion at Toronto City Centre Airport is terrific news. Not only will it create hundreds of direct construction and airline jobs but it will also help to sustain jobs at Bombardier's Toronto facility, which manufactures the DASH 8 Q400. The additional 10 aircraft order comes at a time when Canada's aerospace sector is beginning to feel the painful effects of the global recession. Recently, more than 400 Bombardier workers in Toronto received layoff notices. It's opportunities like this that will help the country emerge from this global financial meltdown.
Roland Kiehne, President, CAW Local 112, Toronto
I was stunned to see the editorial supporting the expansion of the island airport. More pollution, more noise and doubling the risk of a plane crashing into a waterfront condo makes no sense for people who claim to care about the quality of life on the waterfront and the Islands. I thought the plan was to make a green, people-friendly waterfront for all Torontonians; turning Queen's Quay into a treed strolling area with people activities, not turn it into an airport runway. Once again private greed has won out over the public good. The Star's support of corporate greed over the public good to me exemplifies what has gone wrong with newspapers.
Jim Purdie, Toronto
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