Consider what is not said. The report repeats claims of farming value from a lobby group with no challenge to those claims. Talks to two front persons with a single residential lease, plus 3 acres of farm land, but fails to report that the other 9000 acres are leases by largely unknown persons and corporations from which the lobby groups funding is derive. Much of this land is farmed but thousands of acres are not, including a golf course ( glen cedar), truck parks, even a hang glider school. these commercial leases have no transparency but are part of the groups efforts to take advantage of the economic downturn caused by the pandemic to extend these leases.
consider:
-there is a long Waiting list for these leases.
- If an airport is not build as suggested by the KPMG report starting in 2026, and the leases are extended, why should those that now have those lease be allowed to Keep them?
-Is allowing the current lease holder to develop the land the best use of this land?
- hiding behind vitrue signally, such as the environment, food security, etc is the new blind spot in which corruption lurks. Who are the leaseholders?
- no one ( including the city) is spending money to counter this Misinformation, the only group with a voice is a group of volunteers with zero budget, trying to protect a billion dollar government land reserve for its original purpose ( the Friends of Pickering Airport ).
welcome to total lack of transparency that now passes as news.
I post on this forum from time to time because I truly believe that those reading can learn the art of critical thinking, what ever political affiliation. Put the phone down and look around, Apply the art of critical thought.