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Toronto deputy mayor urges action on airport expansion

He said if council doesn't act now, it could postpone the expansion for
at least a decade, pending the results of next year's municipal
election.

"It depends on the makeup of the next administration," he said. "It
may be the very same people that opposed the island airport in the first
place. If that's the case, then I think the city will have lost a
marvelous opportunity to grow an asset."

Porter Airlines wants to
expand its network of routes out of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport,
but needs council’s approval to fly jets and to lengthen the runway into
the water at both ends. The regional airline was pushing for a quick
decision from the city, but the new report means it may have to wait until after next year’s municipal election for an answer.

"Despite
the breadth of consultant studies, there remain outstanding questions,"
the report reads, pointing to noise levels, infrastructure and a
feasibility report from Transport Canada that city staff are still
waiting for.

"These outstanding questions undermine the
agreed-upon premises for this review, and substantiate that approval of
the expansion request is premature."

But Mr. Kelly expressed doubt
Mayor Ford could win his bid for re-election and said he is concerned a
left-wing administration could take power and quash the airport
expansion entirely if council doesn't act now.

"Right now all the
polling that's done doesn't indicate the success of that candidacy. It
points in the other direction. In anticipation of that I think we've got
to bring this issue to the forefront and decide on it."

But other councillors aren't convinced it's a good idea to rush through the process.

“It’s
way too complex, way too big and way too complicated. They cannot say
yes to it with so many unanswered questions,” said downtown Councillor
Adam Vaughan, a long-time critic of the airport.

An interim report
released in September advised that Transport Canada does not expect to
confirm noise data on the Bombardier CS100 jet aircraft that Porter
wants to buy until next May or later. The delay also is linked to the
certification of the new aircraft by Transport Canada, according to the
report.

Porter Airlines chief executive officer Robert Deluce said
council has more than enough information to fully consider the matter
now.

“Certain councillors didn’t even want to study the issue in
the first place, so there’s no amount of additional time or information
that will ever satisfy them,” he said.

“We are still really
optimistic that the majority of the executive committee and council will
see the proposal’s value for the city and be willing to work toward
making it happen in a timely manner,” Mr. Deluce said in an interview
Thursday.

Another key issue in the report is the amount of
infrastructure needed to support the expansion – roads and transit
improvements that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars with no
clear means of funding.

The city’s executive committee will consider the staff report next week, with a recommendation going to council in mid-December.

Mr.
Deluce said the city already has enough information about the jet’s
engine, and doesn’t have to wait for Transport Canada to determine
whether the aircraft complies with current noise limits.

He also said
there is nothing stopping council and the executive committee from
making a determination, “based on the merits of the plan.”

He
would not say what options Porter is examining for expansion if city
council rejects his plan to expand Porter’s flights by using jets to fly
passengers from Billy Bishop to Vancouver, the southern United States
and other destinations far beyond the range of the Bombardier Q400
turboprop planes that now make up the airline’s fleet.

Porter is
seeking to lift the ban on jets flying to the airport or to have a
special exception made for the CS100s. Currently, Porter can fly only
turboprop planes into the airport, which is governed by a tripartite
agreement among the city, the Toronto Port Authority and federal
regulators.

Bombardier told Toronto city staff that the
manufacturer, Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp., had delivered an engine
to a test facility where it could be evaluated. But the city’s aviation
consultants advised that this did not conform to international testing
standards and that the engine needed to be tested on the aircraft’s
frame in flight.

The waterfront airport has long been a political
flashpoint for Toronto, with former mayor David Miller coming to office
with a pledge to stop a bridge to the island. Porter’s plans to bring
jets to the airport have reignited some of the same public opposition.
Mayor Rob Ford has been a strong supporter of the airport expansion, but
his ability to influence a council vote has diminished since council
stripped him of most of his official powers last week.