Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poillievre said Thursday the federal government he leads will approve an expansion of the runway at Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport, allowing planes to fly in and out of downtown Toronto.
In a statement to the media, Poilievre said the move will increase competition in the aviation sector and provide travelers with an alternative to Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.
“Travel at Pearson is a mess right now,” he said. “There could have been a lot more flights out of Billy Bishop Airport in downtown Toronto, which means more competition and more choice, but the horrible guards weren’t going to let that happen.”
“I will reverse Trudeau’s decision to stand by them and allow planes to fly in and out of Billy Bishop Airport to put people back in control of their lives.”
Pearson International has recently struggled with flight delays and cancellations as airlines adjust to higher passenger levels following the pandemic slowdown.
Pearson and Air Canada are leaders internationally in the percentage of flights delayed in the past month, often exceeding 50 percent.
“We can all understand why they are angry and frustrated. Your flight is canceled and they tell you to call and you’re on hold for six hours – and I’m not exaggerating,” said Leslie Dias, director of airlines at Unifor. The union represents 16,000 airline employees, including 5,600 customer service and sales agents at Air Canada.
Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. Pierre Poilievre says the airport expansion will give passengers an alternative to delay-plagued Pearson International. (The Canadian Press/Michelle Siu)
“To some extent, our people are broken,” Diaz told The Canadian Press on Wednesday from Calgary, where he is involved in a labor dispute on behalf of baggage and customer service agents.
“They’re upset, they’re often close to tears, they’re exhausted. In all airlines, they make them work as many hours as they can manage to work. And they feel helpless.”
Diaz added that police officers are called to airport gates daily in response to verbal abuse from passengers.
Airport expansion stalled in 2015
Poilievre said that as prime minister, he would direct his transportation minister to open up the sector to more competition and encourage Porter Airlines to put the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport expansion proposal back on the table.
He said he would also advise the City of Toronto and PortsToronto to approve a proposal to extend the runway, provided taxpayers would not have to shoulder the cost.
The Poilievre government, he said, will reopen the tripartite agreement with PortsToronto, the airport and the city of Toronto with the intention of allowing planes to operate out of the airport.
Back in December 2015, PortsToronto, the owner and operator of Billy Bishop Airport, said the plan to bring planes to the small airport was dead in the water.
“PortsToronto will complete the technical work currently underway but will not proceed with further public engagement activities related to Porter’s proposal to introduce jets,” agency CEO Jeffrey Wilson said in a statement to the media at the time. “As such, the studies will not be completed.”
PortsToronto’s decision followed an announcement a month ago by then-Transportation Minister Marc Garneau that his government would not change the tripartite agreement to lift the ban on commercial aircraft.
According to the terms of the agreement, if one of the parties to the agreement refuses to renegotiate it, the agreement cannot be reopened.
Porter Airlines wanted to fly Bombardier CS-100 aircraft from that airport and lobbied to reopen the tripartite agreement.
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