Volunteers communicating the need for Pickering Airport
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 […]
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 […]
By Ted Nickerson and Mark Brooks There’s an old joke about requiring politicians to wear a NASCAR like uniforms that tell us who their sponsors are. In Canada we like to think we are above such nonsense thanks to a ban on corporate donations. But this is no defense against special interest groups, political action […]
By Mark Brooks A proposed tax on new small aircraft in the 2021 Canadian federal budget is a shocker. The new tax could not come at a worse time as GA (General Aviation) pilots, businesses and entrepreneurs look to recover from the pandemic and re-equip with new safer and more efficient greener aircraft. What is […]
By Mark Brooks Did Jennifer O’Connell, Member of Parliament for Pickering—Uxbridge, or someone on her staff, give lobbyists and other interested parties a sneak peek at a then-confidential Transport Canada report? The million-dollar consultant’s report, called the Pickering Lands Aviation Sector Analysis (ASA for short), suggests breaking ground on the new airport in 2026, building in stages from […]
By Ted Nickerson There have been articles recently in the Toronto Star (February 18 and 26, 2021) reporting on a residential development proposal for north Markham. The City of Markham had asked the province to issue a Minister’s Zoning Order (MZO) to permit the development to proceed, while residents strongly oppose the development. Markham MZO […]
By Mark Brooks Our planet is on fire and the status quo just doesn’t cut it. Although aviation produces only 2.5% of global carbon emissions, its role as the lynchpin of the global economy has made it a symbol of a net-zero carbon future. Two starkly different visions of that future present opposing paths […]
A farmer asks his landlord to put up a No Trespassing sign and remove an unwanted structure. Not usually a news event heard across the country. But this time the flash point was as Canadian as it gets, a pond being used as a natural skating ring by local children in the middle of a […]
by Mark Brooks Have you heard about the Eastern Toronto Regions new Aerotropolis? It will create 150,000 jobs, homes for 120,000 people and enable our net zero carbon emissions goals. The project has been decades in the making and will take years to finish. It has the support of five local city government’s and the […]
By Ted Nickerson and Mark Brooks On October 10, 2020, Friends of Pickering Airport posted a report, ”Who is Leasing the Pickering Airport Lands?”, looking at the number, type and lessees of the Pickering Airport lands that have been retained for economic development including an airport. The new airport will be adjacent to the Rouge […]
