“The Big Lie” But Who is Telling It?!

By Ted Nickerson News Flash – November 2021 “The Big Lie Exposed”, a media release by the lobby group Land Over Landings states that the Transport Canada-commissioned study says an airport in Pickering Ontario is not needed by 2036. https://landoverlandings.com/resources/the-big-lie-exposed/ Oh, really!  This pronouncement makes me think of the phrase “If you tell a lie […]

eFuel: Aviation and Big Oil’s Plan for a Net-Zero Carbon Future

By Mark Brooks Canada has committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Yet a recent report from Canada’s Energy Regulator (CER) predicts that by 2050 Canada will still need millions of barrels a day in hydrocarbon-based fuel. As the burning of liquid and gas fuels is one of the main sources of carbon emissions, […]

Why Organized Labour Will Like Pickering Airport

By Mark Brooks Jerry Dias, the President of Unifor, knows first-hand how terribly unforgiving the aviation industry can be. As president of Unifor, he represents more than 315,000 Canadian workers, including thousands of highly-skilled pilots, engineers and aircraft manufacturing workers. In August 2021, he threw his weight behind 700 striking De Havilland Aircraft of Canada […]

Aviation’s Moment of Truth in Canada’s Post-COVID Recovery

By Mark Brooks When the Berlin wall fell in 1989, socialist economics was declared a failure, and a world spanning free market capitalist economic system ruled supreme. Then a new crisis, global warming, in part caused by capitalism’s success in creating global prosperity, created an opportunity for a rematch. Over the last decade, aviation has […]

Just-Released FOI Provides Shocking Insight into Pickering Airport Fight

By Mark Brooks There are two completely different interpretations of a government report meant to clarify the future development of Pickering Airport. The first was from government back-bencher MP Jennifer O’Connell whose press release was published by a lobby group only 101 minutes after the report was made public. The MP’s press release stated that […]

Buttonville Airport’s Closure Expected to Hasten Pickering Airport’s Development

By Mark Brooks The recent announcement of Cadillac Fairview’s (CF) purchase of a 100% stake in Toronto Buttonville Airport has important implications for the development of an aerotropolis in nearby Pickering. Buttonville airport, a busy GA (General Aviation) and utility airport, sits on a 169-acre property in the City of Markham. Considered a prime site […]

Aviation to Beat Road Transportation to Net-zero Carbon Emissions with SAF

By Mark Brooks Aviation is set to soar in a post-COVID global economy with thousands of new aircraft on order, and a public eager to travel for business and pleasure. Airbus now has over 7,000 orders for new A320 aircraft and more than 600 orders for its fuel-efficient A220, doubling the Airbus fleet worldwide. Boeing […]

An incredulous respond to a question in Parliament on who is leasing the Pickering Lands

By Mark Brooks How deep are the lobbyist hooks into the Pickering Airport Lands? The 9000 acres set aside for the new Pickering Airport and economic development near Toronto is an opportunity to create tens of thousands of jobs, hundreds of million in tax revenue and billions in economic activity. The new airport is expected […]

Explaining Canadas Sustainable Aviation Fuel opportunity

By Mark Brooks On June 7, 2021, the City of Pickering’s Planning and Development Committee discussed a staff report responding to the Region’s request for comments on various regional policies (Agenda Item 5.2).  One of those policies related to the Pickering airport.  I was pleased to be one of four people who made deputations to […]