We appreciate new TPA Chair Mark McQueen's response in this blog to the increasing volume of complaints about the Island Airport operation. It has been a long time since the Port Autrhority has deigned to do so. Let us hope that this is the beginning of an opportunity for constructive discussion and problem solving between the TPA and the communities affected by the Island airport.

 There are some disturbing errors and omissions in his reply:

1.                  “Every single resident along the Waterfront bought or rented their residence with the full knowledge that they were going to be living near an airport.”

True. But, anyone who was around for the Island Airport battles of the 1980s would know that the community was promised strict controls on that airport, to ensure the communities nearby remained liveable. Those strict controls were enshrined in the tripartite agreement (essentailly a lease from the City to the TPA of a portion of the airport lands, termiable only upon closing of the airport), and are legally binding obligations – on the TPA, and – as confirmed by Lisa Raitt at the 2006 TPA annual general meeting, binding on Porter.

Those controls include:

·        A prohibition on commercial passenger operations except for those using short-take-off-and-landing (STOL) aircraft. Transport Canada has confirmed to MP Olivia Chow that  Porter’s Q400 is not STOL. We have repeatedly pointed out this breach to Porter, the TPA, and Transport Canada.

·        A prohibition of aircraft generating “excessive noise”. The tripartite agreement defines excessive noise by reference to data issued by the International Civil Aviation Organization, the UN-affiliated world body governing civil aviation. ICAO noise data for the Q400 establishes a clear violation. Based on ICAO data, the Q400 is an aircraft generating excessive noise and is prohibited from using the Island Airport. Further, the tripartite agreement establishes a penalty which is to be charged by the Port Authority of $5,000 (in June 1981 dollars) for each violation. The TPA is obliged to charge this penalty for breaches to date. Again, we have raised this issue with Porter, the TPA, and Transport Canada – and we have raised this repeatedly with Mr. McQueen. There has never been a reply, nor, to our knowledge, has the fine ever been imposed on Porter.

Every resident of the waterfront is entitled to the protections from noise and disruption of their lives that these rights guarantee. Mr. McQueen’s dismissive attitude might well be warranted if those rights were actually being respected by the organization he heads.

2.                  “I have looked into the commercial noise situation myself, and have been to the Porter offices for a briefing. In light of one specifically unfortunate commercially-generated post-11:00 p.m. noise event…”

One? Unfortunate?

There have been consistent repeated violations of the curfew by Porter that Mr. McQueen is entirely familiar with, as he personally reviews the many noise and curfew complaints received.

In 2003, the TPA agreed to insert a strict curfew into the tripartite agreement:

The [TPA} acknowledges and agrees that all flights into and out of the TCCA shall operate between the hours of 6:45 a.m. and 11:00 p.m., with exception of medical evacuations and other emergency uses.

Here are the violations for the past four months, ending June 30:

Curfew Violations at Toronto Island Airport               March 1 to June 30 2008 (Records for Newark begins April 1)

*  =   Late Arriving to CYTZ           #      =  Track log information differs         ^  =   Left CYTZ before 6:45 am

Results:  Curfew broken  =  17 occurrences                                                                   Source: flightaware.com

The breaches continue – Porter breached the curfew again this morning, flying a plane in from Pearson at 6:40.

3.                  “… TPA has begun a new initiative with Transport Canada to develop regulations to enforce curfew violations. At the present time, to my surprise, no such regulations exist. TPA’s Board and Staff are on top of this.”

First we’ve heard of this. All of the community’s complaints on curfew violations (see above) have been ignored – or summarily dismissed.

But why would Transport Canada have to ”develop regulations”? The TPA operates the airport, and is bound by the tripartite agreement to enforce the curfew. It has all the authority it needs to do so. For Mr. McQueen to hide behind Transport Canada’s skirts (it’s always been so notoriously pro-airport) is yet another lame excuse for inaction. 

4.                  “You may find it interesting that over the past 10 days, this very Air Ambulance flew over my home (situated well north of Bloor Street) on three different occasions, likely on the way to the Hospital for Sick Children; I did not call my City Councillor or MPP to complain of the loud noise that is generated by a low flying helicopter. I was just hopeful that the young occupant got the emergency care he/she required, and am glad that we live in a society that can afford such life-saving tools.”

Gosh. It is amazing that this tattered line of defence for the Island Airport still gets dragged out into the daylight.

Mr. McQueen has in his possession our study (available on our website, at http://www.communityair.org/Issues/Medevac/Medevac.html), based on Ontario Ministry of Health data, that demonstrates that, far from saving lives, basing the air ambulance at the Island Airport places lives in needless jeopardy. Here’s why:

The Ministry of Health helicopters serves a very large area – from the waterfront in Toronto all the way north to Muskoka, and east to Peterborough. In fact, 73% of flights from the Island Airport go north of the 401.

No critically ill patients are brought to the Island Airport. Every one is delivered to a heliport at the destination hospital.

Our study found that warnings from health professionals, when the decision was made in 1991 to move the service from Buttonville to the Island Airport, were justified – in spades: 

20.8% of flights (655 out of 3144) suffered at least a seven minute delay

57.1% of flights (1796 out of 3144) suffered a delay between five and seven minutes

As minutes make all the difference for those critically ill patients, that extra travel time to the pickup point means lives are regularly placed in jeopardy.

We understand the move of the base to the Island Airport  was based solely on economics. We have suggested to the TPA, and to the Minister of Health, in the best interests of those critically ill patients, that the TPA should simply allow the Ministry to terminate its lease, and facilitate the re-location of the base to a more appropriate location. Mr. McQueen has not responded to this suggestion.

5.                  “If the residents along the Waterfront who call the TPA to complain about the movements of the Air Ambulance had children or grandchildren involved with these life-saving flights, they would undoubtedly feel differently about its presence at the TCCA, or anywhere else for that matter.”

We’d all feel a lot better about the Ministry of Health helicopters, if they were posted where they should be: see above. And if they did respect the curfew: they are exempt from it only for emergencies – returning to base is not an emergency, and should await the expiry of that curfew.

We also think that the noise from helicopter (and Porter) engine maintenance should only occur outside of curfew hours. Mr. McQueen states: “I think you and I are in absolute agreement regarding the basic principle that TCCA commercial and private users need to comply with both the spirit and the letter of the Tripartite Agreement.” If the spirit of the curfew is to ensure abutting communities have respite from the noises of the airport, then maintenance and other noisy activities within curfew hours should be prohibited by Mr. McQueen. 

Mr. McQueen – you could do so much to honour, and respect, the TPA’s obligations to the communities affected by the Island Airport. We are deeply disappointed that you have chosen, instead, to ignore them.

Brian Iler
Chair, CommunityAIR