Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to the opposition's motion. However, I would like to begin by wishing everyone a happy International Women's Day. I would like to recognize all of the women in the House, all of the women members of Parliament from all parties, the women who work in our offices, the women who support the House, and the women who work in security. They all are empowerment.
This motion mixes and confuses two important issues: support for our aerospace industry, in this motion specifically Bombardier; and city building, in this motion the impact of the proposed expansion of the Billy Bishop island airport on the waterfront and the City of Toronto. The motion confuses the two issues by linking them, and this lessens the debate. We can debate how best to support the aerospace industry. That is a worthwhile endeavour. However, why tie it to the island airport? It oversimplifies the problem and it does not offer long-term solutions. Let us be clear: expanding one airport would not guarantee a future for our aerospace industry or for Bombardier.
The form of this motion is divisive. It creates a notion that supporting aerospace must be done at the cost of city building. It does not. People in the aerospace industry can be city builders. City builders can champion the aerospace industry. We will all be stronger if we work together. I cannot support this motion because of the way it is set up. It is divisive and it would not get us closer to solutions. It would be detrimental to the city building happening in Toronto and at our waterfront in the city. We can work together to find solutions.
It is simplistic to say that the answer to the problems facing our aerospace industry in general, or Bombardier specifically, is to be found by building larger, more-extensive airports long into the future, even if the expansion proposed is contrary to the community's interests. We can and should do better at addressing this issue. This motion, though, would fail to provide any solutions.
My riding of Toronto—Danforth contains both large residential areas and nearly 300 acres of industrial and commercial lands that make up the port lands. We overlook the island airport and sit adjacent to it, and in some cases under the flight path for the Billy Bishop island airport. Although I am proud that Bombardier is a strong Canadian company and am a supporter of the current configuration of the island airport, I am opposed to this motion today.
I support Bombardier.
Bombardier is a Canadian icon. From the 1930s until the late 1960s, it was a pioneer of the modern snowmobile.
This Canadian giant and its many divisions produce a remarkable range of products. Bombardier's rail and aerospace divisions and their respective administrative offices employ tens of thousands of people from Burnaby, British Columbia, to Saint-Bruno, Quebec.
Bombardier manufactures snowmobiles, monorail systems, amphibious firefighting aircraft, and rolling stock. The work done by Bombardier employees can be seen all over the world and in our own subway tunnels and garages. Bombardier is important to Canada.
Over the last decade, one of Bombardier's crucial breakthroughs in terms of products has been the C Series aircraft. This category of aircraft is an absolutely marvellous piece of technology. Everyone agrees that it is one of the quietest planes in the world. What is more, it is in demand: just last month, Air Canada signed a letter of intent to purchase 45 of these jets, with an option for 30 more.
There is a market solution available that could help Bombardier with its financial troubles, and we know that the government is looking at the company's request for financial assistance, so that its C Series production can proceed.
The issue is not the quality of Bombardier's jets, nor even the noise from these planes. It is the disruption from the air traffic, the impact on wildlife, the impact on small watercraft on the lake, and the impact on the people of Toronto.
Furthermore, I agree that the island airport in its existing configuration should remain. It brings travellers, tourists, and business people to the centre of the city that I call home. It is an important part of our city.
I would like to underline that the City of Toronto is not just an economic engine. It is home to millions of people. The expansion of the island airport would harm a recently revitalized waterfront. It is a place where there has been significant investment over the past years, and one in which we are continuing to invest. Therefore, I do not support expanding the island airport.
My riding would be directly impacted by an expanded island airport. The southernmost portion of my riding is a park called Tommy Thompson Park. It is in fact one of the environmental consequences of Toronto's expansion over the last 50 years.
The park is a long spit of land that juts into Lake Ontario. It was originally designed as a breakwall to protect the inner harbour from erosion. This five-kilometre long, 1,200-acre structure is physical proof of the changes Toronto has gone through. It is built from the soil that was removed to build subway lines and office towers over the last five decades. Nature has reclaimed it, and we have turned it into a park.
It is not just the people from across the GTA who appreciate this strip of land. This park is one of the few places on the Toronto waterfront where natural habitats exist for birds and other species. It is home to some 316 species of birds and a wide variety of mammals. Beavers, mink, and muskrat call this part of Toronto home. The area has been designated an important bird area by BirdLife International, and it is an important breeding area and migratory stopover for many of these birds.
Running an expanded airport's flight path adjacent to this area of national significance would be significant for the bird life and would be incompatible with the use these animals are making of the land. An expanded flight schedule that includes jets would also be incompatible with the uses residents in my riding and the GTA are finding for this park.
The impact on the residents of the GTA, were the island airport to be expanded, would also be significant. The motion before us speaks only to the purported economic benefits that the member opposite imagines would flow from adding football fields of tarmac into the Toronto waterfront. There is no mention of the millions of people who visit the Toronto Islands each year to picnic, swim, and skate on the frozen ponds.
We are a city built on a lake. Our waterfront and islands are vital parts of our identity and our communal space. Tourists visit our waterfront, and we have invested in its revitalization. After all of this effort, all of this city building, why would we damage it by increasing the length of runways and landing jets over our heads?
The motion fails to realize what the waterfront means to my riding and the greater Toronto area as a whole. The motion envisages the harbour as a place where only work is accomplished, and where dollars and cents flow into Toronto. It fails to see the harbour and the waterfront more broadly as crucial public space. The waterfront is a place where people live, work, and relax. The island airport exists and is an important part of the downtown core of Toronto, but it does not need to define that space.
I am opposed to the motion, because it does not accord with the vision my community has for Toronto's future. The expansion of the island airport is not compatible with a waterfront that is a livable and accessible place. It detracts from what we have worked to build, for people to study, work, and visit. An expanded island airport does not include space for sailboats, dragon boats, and canoes. This is Toronto's space to relax. It does not allow for migratory bird colonies on a spit of land that was once just construction material. It does not allow for quiet secluded beaches with endless lake views, and it is a version of Toronto that is fundamentally contrary to the type of development the city needs and wants in spaces surrounding its harbour.
Our efforts should be directed toward expanding cultural spaces, building green infrastructure, and investing in housing in the spaces left in the downtown core. Smart and careful investment in the urban environment that enhances people's quality of life will bring benefits to Canada and the GTA.
The economic benefits of a livable waterfront are just as important and would bring greater benefit than a bigger airport. We should support city building and not assume that a few hundred metres of asphalt would somehow cure the problems of the world's leading aerospace and train manufacturer.
To conclude, I am happy to take the hon. member for Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek on a tour of my riding, so that she can see first-hand what I am talking about. It is, after all, almost migratory bird season for Tommy Thompson Park.
