(Editor's note:  This is the deputation of CommunityAIR to the Board of Health.  It was given by Pam Mazza)

Good afternoon. My name is Pamela Mazza, and I sit on the board of CommunityAIR, a non-profit community group that has representation across Toronto, and whose mandate is to return the Island airport lands backs to the City.  At the same time, we have been actively calling for accountability and transparency from the Toronto Port Authority, which has yet to be forthcoming.

 I am also  a member on the Waterfront Committee for the Toronto Island Residents Association, representing the 750 people in the Island community.

On behalf of all of those thousands of Torontonians who currently live, and will live, work and play on our waterfront, thank you for giving us your valuable time to day. And we also want to thank the staff of the Department of Health, who took our health concerns about the airport seriously, and have mapped out an effective approach to addressing them for you.

We were appalled that the Toronto Port Authority repeatedly ignored requests from your staff for its assistance in understanding health issues arising from the Island Airport’s expanding operation. However, for those of us who have worked on these waterfront issues for a long time – and many of us have – this comes as no surprise whatsoever. You will likely hear this complaint many times over today.  We have been treated by the Port Authority with the same refusal to be accountable to those it impacts, and the same lack of respect you have experienced, many, many times.

On this past Christmas Eve, the Port Authority announced that it will more than double the number of ‘slots’, or takeoffs and landings, at the Island airport.  In 1989, a study established that the number permitted was 97.  This was done to protect the citizens of Toronto by limiting the activity at the Island airport. 

With no new study in place, with no regard for the Tripartite Agreement establishing those 97 slots, the Port Authority have now announced, out of the blue, on Christmas Eve, when they have no right to do so, that 212 slots will be made available.    

Obviously, as a result, the current air, water, and noise pollution levels will now double as well.  The City negotiated legally-binding constraints on that Airport for the protection of its citizens in 1983, when they signed the Tripartite Agreement,  and only the City has the authority to enforce them. The TPA has refused to respect them, and the City to date has failed to enforce them.  We respectfully request your assistance in moving the City to meet its responsibilities. 

We are clearly at an early stage in understanding the scope of the health issues that may be caused by this Airport’s operations. Objective comprehensive and on-going  measurements of air pollution, water pollution and noise pollution are essential to developing a plan to address those issues.

I would like to stress the words “objective” and “comprehensive” here.  To date, we believe that most of the Port Authority studies have been skewed, either in having developed their own terms of reference, or in their results, tailoring the studies to suit their own ends.  Many are outdated. 

To that end, we would like to ask the Board of Health to make the following recommendations: 

1.      Ensure that a new NEF contour study is completed.  Until that is done, the number of slots cannot be determined, and modelling to determine current and future environmental impacts cannot be made.

2.       Undertake to include and study all areas of health impacts of the airport:  air, water and noise.  The Board of Health may need to call upon other City departments for support, such as Municipal Licensing and Standards, when assessing noise impacts.

3.      Any terms of reference developed, any consultants retained, and any studies done, must be free from bias.  They must be either be agreed upon by all parties, or established by the Board of Health.

4.      The Board of Health and the Port Authority shall report back on a timely basis on the progress of the various initiatives taken, in a public meeting format.

5.      Community representation and input shall be sought where appropriate.

Your department has the resources that we do not to quantify the impact of this Airport on our health. We insist that appropriate action be taken.

Thank you for your attention.