CommunityAIR's position on Pearson and the Island Airport
John:
You have posed some interesting issues that need a reply.
1. Yes, Pearson has many hotels and surrounding residents. We have debated this at length on the blog, and we contend that there are many more people in a close proximity to the Island Airport than Pearson. That does not mean that we do not have sympathy for the people that live close to Pearson. Certainly they have serious pollution issues to contend with. Some members of CommunityAIR are getting behind the movement to build fast trains in Canada because they are much less polluting. There will be a symposium on high speed rail in Canada at the University of Toronto on Saturday April 25. You can find details of the symposium at http://www.sellyourevents.com/eventpage.aspx?name=TorontoHighSpeedRailPublicSymposium
2. There have been a number of studies of the effect of pollution from airports in Europe and the United States. Curiously I do not know of any study like this done in Canada. It makes you wonder what Transport Canada is trying to hide? You can find a discussion of pollution and airports on the CommunityAIR website. www.communityair.org
3. Yes, there is such a thing as environmental ethics. I am glad you brought that up. I think it is completely unethical that the Toronto Port Authority and Porter Airlines would ramp up air and noise pollution on thousands of people in the downtown core of the city against their wishes. That decision is unethical in my opinion.
4. The discussion about the world fair is completely out of left field. I remember vaguely about the world fair, but CommunityAIR did not endorse it, although individuals or politicians may have spoken in favour of it. We are focused on the Island Airport. We try to stick to what we know and care about.
Bill Freeman
You have posed some interesting issues that need a reply.
1. Yes, Pearson has many hotels and surrounding residents. We have debated this at length on the blog, and we contend that there are many more people in a close proximity to the Island Airport than Pearson. That does not mean that we do not have sympathy for the people that live close to Pearson. Certainly they have serious pollution issues to contend with. Some members of CommunityAIR are getting behind the movement to build fast trains in Canada because they are much less polluting. There will be a symposium on high speed rail in Canada at the University of Toronto on Saturday April 25. You can find details of the symposium at http://www.sellyourevents.com/eventpage.aspx?name=TorontoHighSpeedRailPublicSymposium
2. There have been a number of studies of the effect of pollution from airports in Europe and the United States. Curiously I do not know of any study like this done in Canada. It makes you wonder what Transport Canada is trying to hide? You can find a discussion of pollution and airports on the CommunityAIR website. www.communityair.org
3. Yes, there is such a thing as environmental ethics. I am glad you brought that up. I think it is completely unethical that the Toronto Port Authority and Porter Airlines would ramp up air and noise pollution on thousands of people in the downtown core of the city against their wishes. That decision is unethical in my opinion.
4. The discussion about the world fair is completely out of left field. I remember vaguely about the world fair, but CommunityAIR did not endorse it, although individuals or politicians may have spoken in favour of it. We are focused on the Island Airport. We try to stick to what we know and care about.
Bill Freeman
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