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 […]

The Real History of Pickering Airport

The history of the land set aside for Pickering Airport is a fascinating window into the development of Canada and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). It is often presented as a dark tale of the politicization of infrastructure development, regional rivalry, and misinformation. It has been referred to as “the other Mirabel” for political and […]

The Moral Case for Pickering Airport 

By Mark Brooks The debate around the development of Pickering Airport is often focused on the business case, the demographics of growth and the environment.  What about the moral case?  What opportunities are we forgoing, and what future problems are we creating for our children, if we fail to build a new airport in Pickering? Is it […]

On-Track for Full Aviation Recovery in 2023

By Ted Nickerson, October 4, 2022 In the March 2022 posting, I identified that IATA (1) predicted that North American commercial aviation would reach 94% of the 2019 passenger traffic volume by year-end 2022 and reach 102% by year-end 2023.  Further, at that time the USA and Mexico were already near the 2022 forecast but […]

Canadian Oil Industry’s Net-Zero Vision Courtesy of Aviation

By Mark Brooks Western Canada’s oil industry is at the cutting edge of new net-zero energy emissions technology that will be the cornerstone of our 21st century economy. Yet, woke environmental academics and far left anti-capitalist opportunist are calling for the industry to be restricted, and then shut down. The next federal budget could mark […]