Ontario NDP call on Carney government to stop Ford's Billy Bishop expansion

TORONTO — Ontario NDP MPPs Kristyn Wong-Tam (Toronto Centre), Chris Glover (Spadina—Fort York), and Alexa Gilmour (Parkdale—High Park) joined federal NDP Transport Critic Heather McPherson, and Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) President Dr. Samantha Green in continuing to call for the federal government to reject Doug Ford’s plans to expand Billy Bishop Airport:

“In one week, on July 24, the federal government’s so-called 'public consultation' will conclude," said Wong-Tam. "Doug Ford’s proposed expansion of the Billy Bishop Island Airport to fly heavy, noisy, and polluting jets over Toronto’s waterfront will only exacerbate the diminished air quality we experience each summer as wildfires become more common amid extreme weather conditions."

“The only entity that is asking for this is J.P. Morgan," said Glover. “The mitigation measures we are taking now because of forest fire smoke may become a permanent feature of life on Toronto’s waterfront. In a report released two weeks ago, the City of Toronto warned that the emissions from jets flying over the waterfront every two and a half minutes may require people living on the Toronto waterfront to stay indoors, keep doors and windows closed, and rely on mechanical ventilation.”

"We are standing on a day where smoke fills the air, and we are standing in a moment where we do have a voice," said Gilmour. "We have been abandoned by the provincial government. The federal government has been silent. It is our turn to speak up. The federal government has asked for your voice, and you have a chance to say no to jets, to say no to the lifelong health impacts, to say no to the environmental impacts."

ADDITIONAL QUOTES:

“In 2015, the Liberal Party ran on the idea of not expanding this airport, and where are those 25 MPs now? At a moment in time where we need the federal government to live up to their obligations under the Tripartite Agreement, they are silent. What I see is the federal government bailing out J.P. Morgan to the expense of our climate, to the expense of our environment, taking away the rights of people in this city, taking away the rights of the City of Toronto City Council.”

— MP Heather McPherson, Federal NDP Transport Critic

"My patients in downtown Toronto are experiencing health impacts from the bad air and from the heat we’ve just experienced. One of my patients told me this morning that he has been wheezing for the last 24 hours and he doesn’t have asthma.”

— Dr. Samantha Green, President of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE)