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By Declan Finucane
Posted on July 21, 2022 at 4:29 pm
Mississauga’s Pearson Airport could reduce its travel load if Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport began accepting larger passenger planes. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
It’s a long way off, and likely a long shot, but a campaign promise by federal Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre could help ease the burden on air travel out of Mississauga’s Pearson Airport.
The Ottawa MP said today (July 21) that if elected prime minister in the future, he would make changes to Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport that would allow large, long-haul passenger planes to use the facility in front of of the lake
He said a Poilievre government would “remove the gatekeepers and open the skies to competition” by approving a proposal that would eventually lead to an expansion of the Billy Bishop rink.
Similar plans in the past have met with opposition and failed.
With Pearson Airport still in chaos, more options for downtown Toronto travelers will certainly help right now.
But one of the first things Trudeau did in government was to block the expansion of Billy Bishop Airport.
As Prime Minister, I will rally the people to pass it. pic.twitter.com/uU5g2rucUl
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) July 21, 2022
In a press release, the Tory leader hopeful said something needs to be done to ease the pressure on Pearson Airport.
For months, Canada’s largest air travel hub has been plagued by various staffing and other issues that have led to canceled flights, lost luggage, huge lineups and an overall, at times, chaotic atmosphere .
The Mississauga-based airport, and others across Canada and North America, have struggled because they didn’t anticipate so many people returning to air travel so quickly after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted earlier this year.
“Traveling to Pearson is a mess right now,” Poilievre said in the news release. “There could have been many more flights from Billy Bishop Airport…which means more competition and more choice, but the terrible gatekeepers didn’t let that happen.
“Look Pearson. It’s a zoo over there. Why don’t we have competition for long-haul flights?”
Poilievre said that, as prime minister, he would direct his transport minister to take the necessary steps to “open the skies to competition”, and encouraged Porter Airlines to put a Billy expansion proposal back on the table Bishop.
Currently, only turboprop aircraft can land at Billy Bishop.
In 2015, the federal government, under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, rejected a proposal by Porter Airlines, which operates out of Billy Bishop, that would amend the 1983 tripartite agreement that prohibits runway and aircraft expansion unless all parties agree.
At the time, Porter wanted to extend the runway by about 200 meters so that planes could fly passengers to other destinations such as Vancouver, Los Angeles and the Caribbean.
Billy Bishop, located on Toronto Island, currently offers flights to more than 20 cities in Canada and the United States. It carries about 2.8 million passengers a year and is operated by PortsToronto.
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