Porter now has 12 aircraft and all things look like the airline will reach its target of having 18 Bombardier Q400 aircraft flying out of the Island Airport by the end of the year.

Porter flights are becoming more and more frequent.  The noise from planes taking off and landing is increasing, engine runups are getting louder and taxis speeding though the Bathurst Quay community are a mounting menace. 

The other news that hit in the last couple of weeks was that the Toronto Port Authority is contemplating digging a pedestrian tunnel under the Western Gap at a cost of somewhere between $20 and $40 million.  Who will pay the cost?  The people of Canada via the infrastructure funding program set up by the federal Conservative government.

The flurry that was stirred with this week around the Natural Resources Minister, Lisa Raitt, reminded us that she was once the CEO of the Toronto Port Authority.  Four dissenting board members called for an audit into the books and pointed out that under Ms. Raitt's leadership of the TPA an awful lot of money was spent on travel and expensive meals. 

Porter's expansion---another major project at the airport funded by the federal government---the former CEO of the Toronto Port Authority in the federal Conservative cabinet that makes the major decisions about the airport---that's how politics works in Canada.

But another question remains: what will a Liberal government do about the Toronto Island Airport?  Will they shut it down and tell Porter to move to Pearson?  Will they enforce the terms of the Tripartite Agreement?  Will they turn the Toronto Port Authority over to the city?  Only time will tell and who knows?  It may happen sooner than we think.

Bill Freeman