Volunteers communicating the need for Pickering Airport
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, […]
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 […]
By Ted Nickerson, March 10, 2023 This will be my last update from an aviation recovery perspective. In my first posting on this topic in March 2022, 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 […]
This article is about why pilots today should never talk to an average reporter and what everyone can learn from aviation’s hard-won experience. Chatting with the media, while bolstering your ego with 15 seconds of fame, is not for the inexperienced individuals. More harm than good can be achieved by off the cuff interviews. As […]
If you live in Pickering Ontario, you may have heard comments during the last municipal election that development of the Federal Pickering Airport lands will increases taxes, specifically residential property taxes. We have looked at this and have bombshell good news. Taxes across Durham region will be going down thanks to the new airport. Once […]
What defines good leadership? Some argue that it is about being able to have a vision and implement that vision effectively. Others believe it is about having the knowledge and strength to stand up for a future you want to see come true. These two aspects of leadership are not contradictory. One requires the other. […]
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 […]
The revelation started with a phone call. It started as a plea for help from an old friend in Ukraine to a Canadian pilot and aviation enthusiast who was born in Ukraine. In response to the unprovoked invasion of their nation, the young men and women of Ukraine self-organized into citizen defence forces. Tasked with […]
Walking through a hangar at Hamilton Airport after a bumpy day at work I was greeted by something unexpected. In a coveted spot normally occupied by a corporate jet stood dozens of boxes of supplies being sorted by an energetic volunteer wearing a T-shirt with Ukrainian symbolism. His name is Stefan Sobolewski and together with other […]
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 […]
