Queen’s Park says bringing jets to Billy Bishop would add $8.5 billion a year to the economy
Critics say they have no idea where that number came from
Doug Ford’s government continues to assert that expanding Billy Bishop for jet service would pump $8.5 billion annually into Canada’s economy—but how it arrived at that figure remains a mystery. In fact, the province has been tight-lipped on whether it’s done an economic analysis at all. However, this week, a spokesperson for the Toronto Port Authority (steward of the island airport) told the CBC that an official report is underway.
Related: The city and Queen’s Park are fighting over the island airport
For months, Ford has gone on about the dire economic need to modernize Billy Bishop and expand its runway, claiming that the project would generate $140 billion in economic activity by 2050 and create 23,000 construction jobs. But his plan also requires Queen’s Park to expropriate Toronto’s share of the airport. This has not sat well with Mayor Olivia Chow, who called the project a “power grab” at last month’s council meeting. The city has since adopted an emergency motion aimed at blocking the sale.
Retired U of T professor of public management Sandford Borins told the CBC that he’s not sold on the province’s economic analysis, saying “it would contribute the same billions of dollars to the economy” if jets simply continued to fly through Pearson airport instead.
Related: A Montreal firm is scooping up $500 million worth of unwanted Toronto condos
The fight over Billy Bishop represents the latest in a series of Toronto takeover attempts from the Ford government, including its $1.04-billion plan to move the Ontario Science Centre to Ontario Place and its proposal to claim the Exhibition Grounds.
Zakiya Kassam is a writer and fact checker whose work has appeared in Post City Magazines, This Magazine and Now Toronto. She was previously the associate editor at Storeys.
