Premier Doug Ford's Ontario

[thettctransitfanatic]

I think we have too much green space in this city, we should pave over EVERYTHING. As a progress lover, the sight of a blade of grass or a tree offends me.



/s

You joke, but that's the mentality of the Premair and his goons, and increasingly, how the city feels in 2026. There is less grass then ever before it, and Premair wants it that way...They are likely gonna have to destroy part of the Island for this. And him calling the residents squatters, I mean, really? Doug, you really wanna stoop to that level, just like you did with the autistic kids that lived near his house... Premair has NO CLASS or RESPECT, period!

 

[afransen]

I think he's setting up the Islanders as the bad guys as if they are the only group negatively affected by the airport. I would think tens/hundreds of thousands living near the waterfront within a few km of downtown would be negatively impacted, as well as anyone who would want to enjoy the space without frequent jet takeoffs causing a great deal of noise pollution.

 

[Towered]

As someone on the waiting list for an island house, this greatly offends me.

 

[thettctransitfanatic]

I think he's setting up the Islanders as the bad guys as if they are the only group negatively affected by the airport. I would think tens/hundreds of thousands living near the waterfront within a few km of downtown would be negatively impacted, as well as anyone who would want to enjoy the space without frequent jet takeoffs causing a great deal of noise pollution.

Exactly. Dougie's trying to make the Island people a scapegoat for his stupidity.

 

[Full Metal Junkie]

I think he's setting up the Islanders as the bad guys as if they are the only group negatively affected by the airport. I would think tens/hundreds of thousands living near the waterfront within a few km of downtown would be negatively impacted, as well as anyone who would want to enjoy the space without frequent jet takeoffs causing a great deal of noise pollution.

Isn't the opposition to jets operating out of Billy Bishop just another NIMBY initiative not based in valid concerns? All the noise studies and expert reports I've come across over the years seem to indicate that the jets are just as quiet as the turboprops. Here's an example from the City of Toronto site. Unless I'm missing something...

 

[Northern Light]

Isn't the opposition to jets operating out of Billy Bishop just another NIMBY initiative not based in valid concerns? All the noise studies and expert reports I've come across over the years seem to indicate that the jets are just as quiet as the turboprops. Here's an example from the City of Toronto site. Unless I'm missing something...

There are legitimate concerns about the Island airport other than noise, or pollution.

That said, the biggest opponents of Jets at Billy Bishop are likely to be people who want tall buildings all over the Portlands. I can assure you there is a conflict between some (not all) currently proposed heights of buildings and the envisioned flight path of Jets.

There will likely be others. I suspect the General Aviation crowd (private planes) may not like the impact either.

We will have to see where this goes.

 

[nightstreak]

Isn't the opposition to jets operating out of Billy Bishop just another NIMBY initiative not based in valid concerns? All the noise studies and expert reports I've come across over the years seem to indicate that the jets are just as quiet as the turboprops. Here's an example from the City of Toronto site. Unless I'm missing something...

I'm not a waterfront resident so this is already not in my backyard. I am a Torontonian who uses the waterfront as much as I can. The "whisper jets" argument is so dishonest and based on a technicality that most people (looking at you) don't check. Yes, the newer jets are fairly quiet in flight and even on approach but all jets, particularly on a short runway, need to use thrust reversal to slow the plane down. Those are — pardon my French — f*cking loud! Even the existing prop aircraft rev their engines prior to takeoff and I hear them performing maintenance at night when I'm in the office late. "Just as quiet as the turboprops" isn't the argument you think it is because those aren't quiet either. Expanding the airport for jets would mean far more of takeoffs and landings.

I've witnessed the impact this has had and will have on the waterfront. Listening to a cello concert at the Music Garden, the musician was being drown out by plane takeoffs every 5-10 minutes. She eventually stopped and just looked at the audience with a sad/frustrated face waiting for the noise to go before she could rush into her next song.

It's even audible at the Amphitheatre. Less of a problem when the amplified sound kicks in but Doug Ford is pitching a flagship destination with park space, a spa and entertainment for families within earshot of what he wants to make a busy airport. We've poured a lot of public money into the waterfront over the last 2 decades and I'm glad we did. I don't want it to go to waste. Ford is spending billions more with Ontario Place's Trillium Park being within a stone's throw of the extended runway and marine exclusion zone.

The thing is, a downtown airport isn't even a good proposition anymore. UP Express has deflated the need for one. Yes, it used to be nice to avoid Gardiner traffic or a long round about way by subway and bus shuttle but today I can get to Pearson from my office on Bay Street door to door faster on UP Express than to Bathurst Quay in a cab or a shuttle in traffic. I don't even have to go outside if I take the PATH on a snowy cold winter day.

 

[thettctransitfanatic]

 

[Coolibop]

To add to the above, the premier said they would also compensate the city for lost revenues up to about $5 million per year...

... and when probed said the province has no interest in Exhibition Place.

 

[zang]

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It would be really awesome if this clueless label goblin stopped pretending to be Mayor of Toronto.

 

[nightstreak]

I'm looking to Mark Carney to stop this bullshit. The man is so butthurt that he was rejected by the city — for mayor and for Premier — that he's abusing his power to override the will of the city, to the detriment of the province I might add. Doug Ford is making an extremely good case for Toronto petitioning to separate from Ontario and become its own province or entity.

 

[narduch]

The Federal Liberals don't give one shit about what Ford does. It's a carry over from the Trudeau years

 

[T3G]

Lovely. So there's no money for healthcare, education, or transportation, but somehow there's always cash for bastardizing the waterfront.

 

[zang]

I'm not a waterfront resident so this is already not in my backyard. I am a Torontonian who uses the waterfront as much as I can. The "whisper jets" argument is so dishonest and based on a technicality that most people (looking at you) don't check. Yes, the newer jets are fairly quiet in flight and even on approach but all jets, particularly on a short runway, need to use thrust reversal to slow the plane down. Those are — pardon my French — f*cking loud! Even the existing prop aircraft rev their engines prior to takeoff and I hear them performing maintenance at night when I'm in the office late. "Just as quiet as the turboprops" isn't the argument you think it is because those aren't quiet either. Expanding the airport for jets would mean far more of takeoffs and landings.


The thing is, a downtown airport isn't even a good proposition anymore. UP Express has deflated the need for one. Yes, it used to be nice to avoid Gardiner traffic or a long round about way by subway and bus shuttle but today I can get to Pearson from my office on Bay Street door to door faster on UP Express than to Bathurst Quay in a cab or a shuttle in traffic. I don't even have to go outside if I take the PATH on a snowy cold winter day.

I'm pretty sure it's going to be entirely about the private jet market, and though Porter and others may get thrown a bone, he'll make some excuse about how (for the sake of Torontonian's sanity), they can't run more than a handful of jets between them in a given hour.

In other words, this'll be for the people who would never be caught dead using something as pedestrian as UP Express.

Especially interesting is that it seems like he wants a high-end spa, giant conference centre, casino and jet aircraft all in a relatively short distance from one another. The Gulf Stream crowd are currently reshaping Vegas into Monaco, so it would surprise me if Doug doesn't want in on that action.

Who knows, maybe the OPP will suddenly find themselves in need of a faster GravyPlane.

 

[zang]

I'm looking to Mark Carney to stop this bullshit. The man is so butthurt that he was rejected by the city — for mayor and for Premier — that he's abusing his power to override the will of the city, to the detriment of the province I might add. Doug Ford is making an extremely good case for Toronto petitioning to separate from Ontario and become its own province or entity.

I want the feds to rewrite the "creature of the province" BS, or institute exemptions for large cities allowing them to have greater self-governance (like just about every other country does), well beyond the toothless CoTA.