MEGATOR – Toronto in the year 2100

Do you remember the future? Flying cars, high-speed trains, and robots servicing our every whim?   The Greater Golden Horseshoe or just the “Toronto Region” to the rest of the world, has been Canadas golden child of growth since the 1970s.  For decades the region has been an unstoppable economic engine fueled by immigration, industry, and […]

Federal Inaction Fueling a Housing, Productivity and Aviation Crisis in Toronto.

It is hard to find the words to describe the misery of Canada’s housing crisis in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). For a decade demand has outstripped supply causing prices to soar.  For most, buying a home is now an unattainable dream. Many are struggling to make enough to afford rent. Manufacturing and service businesses […]

Pickering Airport Passenger Routes Part 2

Airline Considerations for New Routes In Part 1 we discussed Pickering Airports advantage of location, location and location! We explored how the new airport will complement existing operations at Pearson airport including providing a home for commuter airlines. In addition to commuter airlines (19 seat or less), discount airlines such as Swoop and Flair are […]

Farming and The Full Economic Development of the Federal Pickering Lands

  By Ted Nickerson At the recent City of Pickering Council meeting regarding the motion to reverse the City’s support for an airport on the Pickering lands, I was struck by one presenter’s comments. , A clearly pro-farming, anti-airport advocate, stated their firm opposition to vertical farming or greenhouses on the lands.  The comments were […]

What is Pickering Airport’s Employment Zone?

  An AEZ (Airport Employment Zone), also called an Airport Economic Zone, or an Advanced Enterprise Zone can be defined as: A centre of urban and regional economic growth, which relies on the speed and flow of the economy of an airport. For industry, an AEZ enables a global connection to customers, employees, and logistics. […]

Can a Green Fee save Pearson Airport and surrounding businesses from Mayhem?

  Toronto Pearson Airport and the economic zone it creates is in trouble. Thanks to regional population growth, roadside and airside congestion at the airport is expected to become commonplace. The mayhem of long line ups, delays, and staff shortages observed during the Christmas travel timeframe of 2022 will become a weekly event. Along with […]

Why do Advanced Industries Locate Near Airports?

By Mark Brooks Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson airport is the center of an advanced industrial zone that is at the forefront of the reindustrialization of Canada. The PEZ (Pearson Economic Zone) is now Canada’s second largest employment zone, employing 400,000 people and contributing $53 billion to Ontario’s economy. But why, even with land prices soaring, […]

Philosophically Speaking…#3: A Pyrrhic Victory?

by Ted Nickerson The pending decision by Pickering Council is not going to change the status of the Federal Pickering lands. The above statement is not meant to diminish the importance of the pending decision, nor to be critical of the motion’s proponents.  It just means that the motion, if successful, will not achieve what […]

Philosophically Speaking…#2: Where’s the Business Case?

By Ted Nickerson Building on my first “Philosophically Speaking” posting, I think the topic of the business case for the current and future use of the Federal Pickering lands deserves comment.   I offer several perspectives on this.  Is there a business case for farming, or for an airport?  Where are they?  What does the North […]

Supporting Pickering Airport is the right path

It has become fashionable for “Headline Environmentalists” to believe that climate change can be fought with political decrees opposing growth. In Pickering, two new councilors’ put forward just such a motion, in this case opposing a new airport on federal land, using misleading information from a lobby group. Luckily for us and them, the majority […]