Island Airport Tunnel is Prohibited – by Law

The regulation that killed the bridge to the laceType w:st="on">IslandlaceType> laceType w:st="on">AirportlaceType> also prohibits “any similar fixed link”.

“That phrase can only refer to a tunnel, as there are only two ways to provide a fixed link across a body of water – a bridge or a tunnel.” said Brian Iler, chair of Community AIR. “Why would the Harper and McGuinty governments even consider funding a banned project?” he asked. Iler is also a senior commercial lawyer, in private practice in Toronto.

This revelation comes on the heels of last week’s disclosure, by Toronto Port Authority board member Douglas Reid, a Queen’s University business professor, that the proposal for the tunnel has yet to be discussed, let alone approved, by the TPA Board of Directors.

What kind of due diligence has the Port Authority carried out that would allow this project to proceed this far without ensuring that the law permits it to be built?” said Iler.

The regulation, enacted by the federal government under the Canada Marine Act, was enacted by the Paul Martin government in 2005 and has the force of law. It is attached.

CommunityAIR raised this issue with Mark McQueen last week. His response, and the e-mail discussion between him and Iler, is also attached. He offered no rebuttal of the facts, but stated “For confidentiality reasons, we won’t go into detail about our discussions with counsel or various levels of government.”

Iler wondered jut how committed the Harper government is to this project: “Will they go so far as to change the law to make it happen?”

Questions on this issue, and many others, will be posed by community members at the TPA’s Annual General Meeting this Thursday at the Royal York Hotel.