Signs point to a Billy Bishop airport expansion
The Ministry of Transportation and the Toronto Port Authority agree with Premier Doug Ford’s pitch for an extended runway and larger planes
Premier Doug Ford has a lot on the go. There’s the new $1.04-billion Ontario Science Centre being built at Ontario Place, close to the controversial Therme spa and, it seems, a possible new Metro Toronto Convention Centre, which would cost “a few billion” and maybe require filling in some of Lake Ontario.
Related: Air Canada is dramatically expanding its service at Billy Bishop
Ford has also been pushing to expand Toronto’s downtown Billy Bishop airport by building a longer runway and permitting larger planes. (The airport is not under provincial jurisdiction.)
“I’ve got to tell you one thing, we’ve got to extend that runway. We have to bring jets in, smaller jets, whatever, until people can hop on there,” he said recently, as reported by Global News.
Today, CTV News reports that the operator of Billy Bishop agrees with Ford’s proposal. “Southwestern Ontario airports, including Billy Bishop Airport, serve more than 30 per cent of the country’s air passengers. Addressing airport capacity requirements is a vital issue for the future of Ontario’s economy,” wrote Toronto Port Authority president and CEO Roelof-Jan Steenstra in a letter to Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria. “Lack of airport capacity results in higher fares for passengers, a decline in regional connectivity including access to remote Northern communities, and a reduction in tourism and business activity.”
In a statement to CTV News, the Ministry of Transportation seemed to also be on board.
“An expanded Billy Bishop Airport with an extended runway that will allow for larger planes will reduce congestion at existing Ontario airports, including Pearson International Airport. It will also increase flight travel options for Ontario travellers, support more routes to underserved parts of the province, increase competition that will lead to lower flight prices and support thousands of good-paying jobs across Ontario,” said the statement. “We look forward to working with the Toronto Port Authority, the federal government and other partners to bring these benefits to Ontario.”
Steenstra said the airport’s governance structure would have to change in order to implement the expansion plans.
Related: Doug Ford says only “crazy lefties” don’t like his Ontario Place ideas
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
