Hands Off Our Waterfront town hall meeting to be hosted by Toronto-Danforth Councillor Fletcher and MPP Tabuns on Monday night
By MATTHEW STEPHENS
Toronto-Danforth Councillor Paula Fletcher and MPP Peter Tabuns will be co-hosting a community meeting next Monday night to discuss the impact of what Fletcher described as “(Ontario Premier Doug) Ford’s Trump-style takeover” of Toronto’s waterfront.
“Earlier this week, we learned Ford intends to expropriate city land to impose jets and convention centres on our waterfront without any consultation,” said Fletcher in an email statement. “Join us for an urgent meeting to discuss these troubling developments and how our community can stand up and push back against Ford’s waterfront power grab.”
The town hall meeting will be held on Monday, March 30, at 7 p.m. at Ralph Thornton Community Centre, 765 Queen St. E.
On Monday, March 23, Ford announced the Ontario government would be giving Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport special designation that would allow the province to bypass municipal and provincial legislation to expand the runway of the island airport, allowing for jet landings.
The Government of Ontario website said legislation will soon be introduced to grant the province ownership of the portion of island airport land owned by the city and replace Toronto in the tripartite agreement between the Toronto Port Authority, and Transport Canada.
“We’re unlocking Billy Bishop Airport’s full potential by expanding the airport so we can bring cheaper flight options, more routes and more convenience to the millions of people from across Ontario who use this airport every year,” said Ford in Monday’s statement.
Ford said airport expansion will help the city and province to compete with “world-class cities across the globe,” support tourism, and create thousands of new jobs for Ontario workers.
However, according to Fletcher and Tabuns, the airport will impede plans for new residential development in the Port Lands area.
“Ford’s plan also has serious and far-reaching impacts on residents, the environment and the city’s plan to build thousands of new, affordable homes in the Port Lands,” said Fletcher.
The Toronto-Danforth politicians are now hoping to rally residents at Monday’s meeting to provide more information on how they can “push back against Ford’s waterfront power grab.”
“Join us for an urgent meeting to discuss these troubling developments and how our community can stand up,” said Fletcher.
“Join us to tell Ford loud and clear: hands off our waterfront!”
For more information on the March 30 meeting, and to RSVP so organizers can know how many people to expect, please go to https://www.councillorpaulafletcher.ca/waterfront_townhall
