From the Toronto Sun, November 7, 2010

What David Miller’s departure means for downtown landing strip, Porter, Air Canada

by Rob Granatstein

With David Miller leaving office, it’s time to roll out the red carpet.

And a short carpet, at that.

To the island airport.

While Miller and his “progressive” councillor friends in the waterfront wards downtown abhor the thought of a bustling airport right outside their high-rises, the fact is the Billy Bishop Airport, maybe the fastest growing airport in the world, is something to brag about and sell globally.

“This is a treasure,” one member of Miller’s inner circle told me a few years ago. “We could have VIPs and business executives flying into the core of our city and be in the boardroom 20 minutes after getting off a plane. What company wouldn’t want that convenience?

“It would be great if we could talk about it.”

But Miller flew into office seven years ago on a broom, not a plane, and a promise to sweep away the proposed bridge to the island airport.

Still, over the past four years — in spite of City Hall — Porter Airlines grew into a business with 1,000 employees, and supporting jobs in the aerospace and tourism industry. The airport now handles 1.4-million passengers a year, up from 20,000 a year before Porter’s arrival.

“Our relationship with City Hall has been either non-existent or had a cloud hanging over it,” said Porter Airlines CEO Robert Deluce. “People at the city were gun shy. No one wanted to fly in the face of the mayor.”

He said it’s been like working with one hand tied behind your back.

“We’ve been able to achieve quite a lot in the past four years,” Deluce said. “I can only think we’ll do better in the next four years with a normalized relationship, with a supportive mayor and administration.”

Things were so toxic in the past it took three years to move a curb, said Mark McQueen, chairman of the Toronto Port Authority that runs the island airport.

But there’s been a change since last December when council settled 14 outstanding issues with the port authority.

“Adam Vaughan and Howard Moscoe stopped using us as a political pinata and moved on,” McQueen said.

With the new mayor coming in, McQueen believes any shyness about using the airport will disappear, too.

“We can finally move on to growing the economy,” he said.

Tourism Toronto, which is not a City Hall agency, has tried to help out.

“When we try to position the city, accessibility is vitally important,” said Tourism Toronto v-p Andrew Weir.

“We put any politics aside and recognize tourism through any route has its benefits,” Weir said. “The more access the better.”

Life on the island will only pick up, too, as Air Canada is set to return to the island airport in early 2011, along with Continental Airlines.

So, will mayor-elect Rob Ford leap on this opportunity?

Well, so far he’s not sure we’re a worthy tourist destination.

“The city is a mess,” Ford told the Toronto Sun editorial board this summer. “There’s graffiti everywhere.

“What sort of tourist is going to say this is an attractive city? What sort of business person is going to come in and say, you know what, I want to invest here.

“It’s disgusting.”

The outside world apparently doesn’t think Toronto’s so bad.

This past week has been “Toronto week” on the BBC’s travel website.

A story in the London Telegraph last weekend called Toronto “the perfect North American pop-up city,” referring to the massive building boom of skyscrapers in our downtown core.

And, as the piece notes, what other city is seeing five luxury hotels — including a Trump, Four Seasons, and Ritz Carlton — being built in an economic crisis?

The story even pays special attention to the public investment in the “Mink Mile” on Bloor St., a $25-million renovation, and the $200-million upgrade coming to Union Station.

These projects are even better when you don’t have to live through the achingly long construction, just fly in and fly out.

While our recent election focused heavily on what’s wrong with Toronto, it’s not too late to remember there’s a lot that’s right with this city, too.

And we glitter from the sky, especially if your descent takes you right past our skyscrapers, across our waterfront and into the heart of downtown.