Volunteers communicating the need 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 […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
It reads like a B-movie script for a government scandal. A billion dollars in government land leased out to a select few, mostly unknown, insiders well below market rates. Brave local mayors and town councils harassed at every turn as they fight to get the attention of a distant uncaring federal government. The local citizen […]
