With Doug Ford’s Billy Bishop expansion halted, Olivia Chow wants Toronto’s waterfront back
The mayor tabled a motion to have Bill 110 repealed, in order to “stop the province’s land grab”
Following the federal government’s announcement last week that the Billy Bishop expansion plan encouraged by Premier Doug Ford will not proceed, Mayor Olivia Chow is pushing for the province to return Toronto’s waterfront land, which the Ford government expropriated through legislation quickly introduced last spring.
“At this stage, I can confirm that our focus lies exclusively on the approved safety enhancements,” Minister of Transport Steven MacKinnon said in a statement. “We will not pursue any plans that infringe on treasured public spaces like Little Norway Park or Hanlan’s Point Beach, result in elevated noise, have significant environmental impacts or hinder Toronto’s ability to build much-needed housing.”
Chow has now filed a motion, seconded by Councillor Ausma Malik, asking the province to repeal its Bill 110 legislation in order to give the waterfront land back to the city. “Now that the expansion is dead, there’s no excuse to keep Toronto’s land,” the mayor said on her website, announcing the motion.
“Since the province first announced their desire to expand the island airport, we have demanded to see the plans and worked to understand the potential impact it would have on our city. Impacts on new housing, new parks, air and water quality, congestion, wildlife and more. We also sought to learn who would benefit—in particular, if Wall Street bankers at JP Morgan stood to profit,” the motion said.
“City council has formally opposed this unacceptable overreach and land grab.”
The Toronto Star reported that Ford privately told Prime Minister Mark Carney that he is “disappointed” by the federal government’s decision.
Related: Doug Ford says Toronto Islands residents are “squatters”
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.
