(Editor's note:  Mark McQueen, the chair of the Toronto Port Authority, writes every now and again on the burdens he must carry as TPA chair. His latest, at http://www.wellingtonfund.com/blog/2009/11/10/the-horror-of-urban-life/ is typical. It’s worth a read, as it is a revealing glimpse at how he views the world: bottom line, he thinks cities create noise and all of us just have to put up with it.  This is Brian Iler's response.  We’re watching to see if Mark will post it…)

Mark - your defence of urban noise omits the fact that there are rules about noise, even in our City, that must be obeyed. A huge part of the waterfront communities' problem with the Toronto Port Authority is its refusal to enforce the rules.   

Curfew breaches continue - yet the TPA facilitates them by ensuring emergency crews (or it is crew - you haven't answered our query on that) remain on duty until the curfew breacher has arrived.

Planes fitting within the definition of aircraft generating excessive noise are prohibited, yet are permitted to land.

Noise thresholds are not to be breached, but the TPA refuses to release the study that establishes those thresholds.

And even obvious noise amelioration measures, as set out in the TPA's noise consultant's report delivered last July, that should have been implemented years ago, have been ignored.

These facts speak volumes about your board's attitude towards the communities it has overwhelmed by permitting Porter's massive expansion of its operations.

    Brian Iler