Madam Speaker, tonight, I would like to once again call upon the government to reverse a decision it made on November 12, 2015, to overrun a city of Toronto process to determine the future of the Billy Bishop Airport.
This issue remains relevant. The Liberals can still choose to remove their veto and allow the city of Toronto and Ports Toronto to move forward in their process to decide on the future of the island airport. I would like to take this opportunity to respond to a number of comments made by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport during a previous debate.
She noted that reopening the act would allow any capable jet aircraft to use the airport. The member opposite should know that reopening the tripartite agreement would not allow an unlimited number of jumbo jet aircraft to land at the island airport. Reopening the agreement would have no bearing on the noise allowance at the airport, the number of daily landing slots, or the daily curfew, unless all the parties listed in the agreement chose to amend these.
If an airline cannot operate within the city of Toronto's strict rules governing the airport, its aircraft should not be allowed to land. The parliamentary secretary also erroneously claimed that the sole reason for supporting the reopening the tripartite agreement was to benefit Bombardier.
I support reopening the tripartite agreement for the following reasons.
The city of Toronto should have the primary say in determining whether the airport should be allowed to expand and lift the jet ban. As a former mayor, I believe that I understood the needs and concerns of my community better than the federal government did. If the member opposite is so convinced that Toronto City Council is opposed to the airport expanding its runway and lifting the jet ban, she should have no issue with allowing it to have that vote.
Airports help create economic and industrial hubs that create jobs and increased opportunities for local businesses and residents. That is why nearly every Canadian city is trying to bring new carriers to their airport. I am sure all of the Liberal members who regularly fly to Ottawa from downtown Toronto can vouch for the convenience of a centrally located airport that serves many destinations. Businesses take advantage of this, and that is what drives jobs and economic growth.
I support the airport expansion because I believe our regulations should keep up with new technology. Aircraft are much quieter today than they were 30 years ago, and regulations governing airports should reflect that reality.
The parliamentary secretary has stated on a number of occasions that she supports getting rid of the Air Canada Public Participation Act because the aerospace sector has changed and the nearly 30-year-old act is consequently out of date. She may be interested to know that the tripartite agreement is actually older than the Air Canada Public Participation Act. By her logic, the tripartite agreement should be reopened or shelved.
In conclusion, if the parliamentary secretary is so confident that Toronto City Council supports the minister's 88-character tweet, will she allow it to determine the future of its local airport?