{"id":50524,"date":"2014-12-15T07:30:11","date_gmt":"2014-12-15T12:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?p=50524"},"modified":"2014-12-14T22:41:02","modified_gmt":"2014-12-15T03:41:02","slug":"lorinc-tory-lands-middle-tangled-island-airport-mess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2014\/12\/15\/lorinc-tory-lands-middle-tangled-island-airport-mess\/","title":{"rendered":"LORINC: Tory lands in middle of island airport mess"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"feature-lorinc\"<\/a>
\nDuring a campaign-style drive-by in Mississauga last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, according to reports<\/a>, sought out Toronto\u2019s newly installed mayor, John Tory, for a little leaderly face-time. Harper, it seems, would sooner take a meeting with the top dog catcher from Kalamazoo than cross paths with the duly elected (majority) premier of Ontario. What\u2019s more, Tory clearly needs Harper more than Harper needs Tory. But for the moment, we\u2019ll have to accept the convenient fiction that the prime minister so cares about Toronto that he\u2019s willing to take time out of his busy schedule, etc., etc.<\/p>\n

It remains to be seen how these t\u00eate-\u00e0-t\u00eates will play out a few months hence, when the island airport expansion scheme \u2014 currently the subject of numerous studies<\/a> [PDF], plus a non-mandated environmental assessment<\/a> by the Toronto Port Authority \u2014 lands again at council.<\/p>\n

Tory, late in November, formally recused himself<\/a> from council votes involving Billy Bishop Toronto City Centre Airport because his son runs an aviation company with a regional office at the facility (two of his staff were also involved with Sussex Strategy Group, a lobbying firm that had Porter Airlines as a client).<\/p>\n

Much less clear is whether Tory is legally \u2014 or, more likely, politically \u2014 conflicted when it comes to taking public positions about the federal government\u2019s actions regarding the future of the Toronto Port Authority.<\/p>\n

Consider: when the Harper government tabled its omnibus budget bill in Parliament earlier this year (Bill C-43, which just passed third reading), it included several amendments<\/a> to the Canada Marine Act<\/a>, all of which focus on port authorities and the power of the minister to over-ride their decision-making power.<\/p>\n

City, Waterfront Toronto, and TPA officials all know about these provisions and are said to be pondering the possible ramifications for the island airport expansion to accommodate a new breed of apparently quiet jets. But there\u2019s been scant public discussion; indeed, the amendments\u00a0didn\u2019t come up as part of the TPA\u2019s presentation at the runway expansion EA consultation session held last week, and my sources say that even waterfront watchers have heard little about them.<\/p>\n

The legislation\u00a0gives port authorities the right to acquire and lease federally-owned land. It\u00a0also gives the minister the discretionary power to make regulations about developments in port areas \u2014 Section 64.1 (1), for those of you who are singing along \u2014 and further states that said ministerial orders \u201cprevail\u201d over decisions about land-use, by-laws and operations made by port authority officials, in the event of policy inconsistencies.<\/p>\n

And lastly, this nugget: \u201cNo civil proceeding may be brought, no order may be made and no fine or monetary penalty may be imposed against Her Majesty in right of Canada or a port authority, in relation to an undertaking that is situated in a port, under regulations made under subsection 64.1(1), based on any right or interest held by Her Majesty or the port authority in that port.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s all just legal housekeeping. Or not. Taken together, these Trojan Horse amendments seem to be saying that Ottawa can, if it so chooses, override what a port authority does, and not have to worry about getting sued after the fact.<\/p>\n

Put differently: not necessarily a power grab, but a power grab if necessary.<\/p>\n

While the amendments obviously apply to all Canadian port authorities, Liberal MP Adam Vaughan warns that these changes will allow the feds to \u201chave a way of controlling the [Toronto port] precinct they never had before.\u201d Little Norway Park, the Canada Malting silos and some parcels in the Portlands are all federally owned, and could theoretically be transferred to the TPA or be exempted from zoning or land use controls that council might pass to thwart the jet scheme, he adds. \u201cThey can sculpt zoning on other properties.\u201d<\/p>\n

How does all this legalese fit into the immensely complicated expansion assessment\/evaluation process, which is looking into everything from noise and emissions to land-side impacts? From where I sit, these provisions could function like a sword of Damocles, hanging over the heads of the various decision-makers at the city and the port authority. The \u201cmay\u201d in the bill\u2019s wording tells the tale.<\/p>\n

At some point in the foreseeable future, City\/TPA evaluations and master plans will be complete, as will Transportation Canada\u2019s study on the marine exclusion zones, runway lengths and so on. At that point, the feds will be in a position to say yes or no to Bombardier\u2019s C-series jets on Billy Bishop\u2019s possibly expanded runways. The legislative changes cited above suggest that Ottawa has discretely, but meaningfully, moved to ensure that the cabinet has more sway\u00a0over the decision-making process.<\/p>\n

Which brings us\u00a0back to Mayor Tory.<\/p>\n

As I noted in this space last week<\/a>, Tory\u2019s Smart Track financing plan, the $1 billion naturalization of the Don mouth and a massive commercial development scheme envisioned for the Unilever site<\/a> are all tied up in a complicated planning waltz. Much depends on a $300 million-plus cash contribution from Ottawa to help fund the flood plain protection scheme for the lower Don, without which large-scale development in the portlands and on the Unilever site can\u2019t proceed.<\/p>\n

How does that piece connect to the Billy Bishop expansion? If the Unilever site is to become our Canary Wharf, it seems likely that demand for island airport flights will grow, although more among business travelers, as opposed to the mid-haul vacationers that Porter wants to serve with its Bombardier C-series jets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In theory, the feds could use their bulked-up clout with port authorities to ensure the TPA secures federal land and imposes zoning rules that ensure there are no flight-path obstacles on the eastern end of the harbour.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019d say the more likely, and more worrisome, scenario involves the feds playing let’s-make-a-deal with their share of the lower Don funding \u2014 in effect using those new powers, plus the threat of withheld funding, as a kind of double-pronged stick designed to keep the talks moving briskly towards the desired conclusion.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s where Tory \u2014 who, as mayor, is council\u2019s official designate on all intergovernmental matters \u2014 will face more challenging questions about his role in this file. If GTA minister Joe Oliver, who owns the Waterfront Toronto portfolio, tells Tory that the lower Don money comes with airport strings attached, the mayor obviously can\u2019t just throw up his hands and say, `Well, Joe, it\u2019s up to council to vote to amend the Tripartite Agreement or not.\u2019<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, if the feds opt to exercise those new powers in order to deliver the desired result (i.e., expansion), is Tory constrained by his declaration under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, or will he be expected to speak up on behalf of the city\u2019s broader interests \u2014 for example, about the impact of the proposed six-metre blast deflection wall that will seriously impair pedestrian harbourfront views?<\/p>\n

These are incredibly tough questions that will demand astute replies and a deft touch when it comes to all the political horse-trading. But for Tory, the reality is that these questions are coming, just as surely as spring follows winter.<\/p>\n

top photo by David L<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

SCHEMATICS BASED ON E.A. DATA, by NoJetsTO<\/h3>\n

\"island<\/a><\/p>\n

The schematic above was created by NoJetsTO, based on the data provided by the TPA in the ongoing EA scoping process. Waterfront advocate Jude MacDonald points out that the TPA has never provided ground-level images\u00a0showing how pedestrians and boaters would\u00a0experience the walls, the enlarged runways and the marine exclusion zone. The slides\u00a0in the EA presentation show the proposed runway either from overhead or at an elevation, not from ground level, where most of us spend our days. And no one\u2019s come up with an image showing the view from water-level in the harbour looking back at the city, with those blast deflector walls in place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During a campaign-style drive-by in Mississauga last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, according to reports, sought out Toronto\u2019s newly installed mayor, John Tory, for a little leaderly face-time. Harper, it seems, would sooner take a meeting with the top dog catcher from Kalamazoo than cross paths with the duly elected (majority) premier of Ontario. What\u2019sContinue reading “LORINC: Tory lands in middle of island airport mess”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4051,"featured_media":50533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","category-waterfront"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLORINC: Tory lands in middle of island airport mess - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2014\/12\/15\/lorinc-tory-lands-middle-tangled-island-airport-mess\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LORINC: Tory lands in middle of island airport mess - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"During a campaign-style drive-by in Mississauga last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, according to reports, sought out Toronto\u2019s newly installed mayor, John Tory, for a little leaderly face-time. 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