(editor's note:  CommunityAIR released the following press release today.)

CommunityAIR (Airport Impact Review)
E-mail           info@communityair.org

Web Site        www.communityair.org
Address    890 Yonge Street, Suite 700   Toronto, Ontario M4W 3P4
CommunityAIR - devoted to restoring the lands and harbour now occupied by the Toronto Island airport to park, recreation, and cultural uses.

Media Statement and Backgrounder — June 8, 2009

Contact:  Brian Iler  416-597-0103  x 114, or cell 416-835-4384

The allegations you’ve heard today – if established – are shocking, but not surprising. We’ve now had a decade of nasty and aggressive actions by this agency.  I’ d like to review some of them with you:

• A lawsuit against the City for return of land legitimately transferred to it by the prior Harbour Commission – to its disgrace the Lastman Council caved, agreeing to pay the TPA $48 million over the next ten years. Money the City cannot afford to pay without cutting essential services to the citizens of Toronto.

• A huge campaign for a bridge to the island airport – justified solely on the ground that a bridge is essential for safe operation of the airport. That bridge was stopped by Prime Minister Martin after a long tough fight by Toronto’s waterfront communities.

• Without any regard for legal principles, the federal government handed $35 million to the TPA allegedly to compensate it for the cancellation of the $22 million bridge.

• $20 million of that was paid to Porter –  to compensate it for its inability to start an airline. Instead (and was this the plan all along?), that sum was all the startup money Porter needed for its airline.

• Porter was given virtually exclusive use of the Island airport by the TPA – and evicted Air Canada Jazz – effectively eliminating competition. Utterly inappropriate for a public agency, and public assets.

• The TPA has failed to pay its fair share of property taxes to the City. According to the City, it’s now more than $40 million in arrears – hiding behind the fact that, as a federal agency, it can’t be forced to pay.

• The TPA refuses to enforce noise and other constraints imposed on it by the tripartite agreement – inserted in the 1980s for the protection of the waterfront and its residents.

• Now we see even more blatant spending of  public assets for the benefit of a private business – the new ferries and terminals – at a price of $20 million

Among other matters, it was the latest ferry purchase that the four directors who signed this letter objected to – if Porter needs another ferry – why doesn’t it pay for it? Why should public assets be used for this purpose?
This seemed to be the impasse that both factions sought to resolve by lobbying the City to break the 3-3 deadlock on the TPA board last fall. The City agreed, appointing David Gurin.

Why would the Harper government deem this issue so important  that it overrode the majority created by Gurin’s appointment last December – by adding two trusted Mike Harris-era Tories?

And now we discover how fragile that slim majority was – one  director had a conflict of interest, as defined by the TPA bylaws, and could not vote . The TPA’s own  lawyers confirmed that. Their problem was that, with that director not voting, the motion for the new ferry would not pass.

That led directly to the extreme and shocking actions we see outlined in this letter.
At root, the problem is with the structure of the TPA – it’s designed for ports of national significance that are financially viable. The Toronto port is neither.

And it’s designed to provide self-management by port users, assuming there are users – and assuming users are represented on the TPA board. Although the TPA bylaws require user reps, there are none – save the airport industry rep. All, save the single City and provincial appointees, are federal political appointments – most Tories closely linked to  Mike Harris and Jim Flaherty. It’ s painfully obvious that Harper’s Tories see no votes in Toronto, or for that matter, any of Canada’s larger cities.

The TPA majority do not see themselves as accountable to the people of Toronto – but to the federal Tories, who identify strongly with the TPA’s goal  of drastic airport expansion - establishing a horrendously busy airport in the midst of our waterfront, and our waterfront residential communities.

They make their decisions in secret, and fail to consult in any meaningful way with those affected by their decisions.

Decisions affecting our waterfront should be made in a transparent way, and in a way that is accountable to those who are affected by its decisions.

We therefore call upon the federal government to revoke the TPA’s Port Authority status, and hand control of Toronto’s waterfront back to the City where it belongs.

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Backgrounders
1. TPA Imposed on Toronto against its Will CommunityAIR’s submission to the House of Commons Transport Committee on February 2008, page 6 attached.
2. No “National Interest” as required – see Brian Iler’s submission of the same day, page 11 attached.
3. Stakeholders on the TPA board – what’s required? Page 14 attached
4. Who’ s who on the TPA board. Page 18 attached
5. Is there a violation of the TPA‘s Code of Conduct? Page 21 attached

(for information on these attachments write to info@communityair.org