Torontonians need to provide feedback to the federal government on the Billy Bishop consultation. Here is mine. “There are significant problems with Doug Ford’s plan to expand Billy Bishop Airport for jets. First, it makes little economic sense. Traffic remains below pre-COVID peaks (~1.75M vs 2.8M). The CEO of Air Canada, Michael Rosseau, says he was not even consulted on the plan until he read it in the news—this despite that Air Canada is a major player in Billy Bishop airport. The issue, for Mr. Rosseau, is that the success of airports comes from their network connections. Billy Bishop weakens those connections for Pearson. It is a self-inflicted wound. To accommodate jets, BB will need to be expanded, greatly. It will need a longer runway, storage facilities for jet fuel, and greater transit connections. Toronto’s waterfront is already overcrowded. How can it manage more traffic? Estimates put the cost at $5B just to fill in the lake. This is a base cost. Meanwhile, Pearson is already undertaking a $3B expansion on its own. Second, how does an expanded BB airport benefit Toronto? Doug Ford says he wants to attract people for conventions. But people visit cities for their great attractions. People visit Barcelona to see Sagrada Família. People visit Montreal to see the Old City. Expanding BB airport will turn off more people than turned on. The expanded runway will go right in front of Doug Ford’s “white elephant” spa. Who will want to visit with planes flying right in front? The expanded airport will make the quality of life horrible for 200,000 people. Why will people want to live in Toronto? It will wreck Toronto Island, the Harbour, and the Port Lands. Doug Ford’s proposal makes no sense. The only reason he is doing it is because Nieuport Aviation (backed by J.P. Morgan Asset Management) bought the terminal from Porter Airlines in 2015 and is losing money. Ford’s former Deputy Chief of Staff, Mark Lawson, has been lobbying hard for Nieuport and he has Ford’s ear. This is a corporate socialist bailout. There is a better idea: Create the Toronto Harbourlands. Great cities have great natural destinations. They become the soul of the city. Vancouver, New York, Chicago, London, and Sydney are great cities because they have Stanley Park, Central Park, Millenium Park/Grant Park, Hyde Park, and Sydney Harbour. Toronto could have more compelling destinations than Kensington Market and the Distillery District. Its waterfront has the potential to be the greatest attraction in the world. But the city requires a vision, and a commitment to make that vision real. It needs the the Federal government. It starts with asking how we can make the Toronto Harbour the centre of the city—year round. How do we honour the city’s history? Countries are the products of geography. Canada is a country because of the Great Lakes. Toronto is a city because of the Scarborough Bluffs. They created the sand flows that formed the Toronto Islands and the natural harbour. They are the genesis of who we are. To become great, the Toronto Islands need fixed links that nevertheless retain the harbour. This means swing bridges over both the Eastern and Western Gaps and a circular trolley that connects Harbourfront, the Islands, and the Portlands. The second thing is to use one of our greatest assets — the extraordinary view of our city from the Port Lands. Doug Ford has been screaming about Toronto needing a new convention centre. OK, let’s put it in the Port Lands and give visitors the best view of Toronto. Connecting the Toronto Islands in this way would open the entire Toronto Waterfront from the Beaches to the Humber. We could have a bike trail through it all—the greatest waterfront in the world, the greatest city on Earth.  It would be a place that the whole world wants to visit. Why would the Federal government not want to get behind this vision?”

The Ford government says the cost to build a new parking garage at the redeveloped Ontario Place will be less than $200 million. toronto.citynews.ca/2026/06/…

Norway found oil. Built a $1.7 trillion sovereign wealth fund. Alberta found oil. Sent the money to Ottawa. Independence means we keep what we build.

Both Porter and Air Canada already fly out of both airports. Pearson just broke ground on a $3B expansion. We don’t need a $5B lake-fill project at Billy Bishop that will undermine Ontario Place, the Islands, the Port Lands, and the waterfront. This push exists because Nieuport Aviation (backed by J.P. Morgan Asset Management) bought the terminal from Porter in 2015 — and it’s not delivering. Traffic remains well below pre-COVID peaks (~1.75M vs 2.8M). Ford’s former Deputy Chief of Staff, Mark Lawson, has been lobbying hard for Nieuport and he has Ford’s ear. A better idea: Swing bridges on the Eastern Western Gaps for ped/bike/trolley access. This would open up the entire waterfront from the Beaches to the Humber. Turn the Islands (tied to the Port Lands) into a world-class car-free park like NYC’s Central Park or Chicago’s Millennium Park — year-round tourism, recreation, no more ferry bottlenecks. Waterfronts are for people, not runways. Toronto has aspired for decades to be a great city but consistently screws it up. Let’s finally do something to make Toronto a city we can be proud of.

Both Porter and Air Canada already fly out of both airports. Pearson just broke ground on a $3B expansion. We don’t need a $5B lake-fill project at Billy Bishop that will undermine Ontario Place, the Islands, the Port Lands, and the waterfront. This push exists because Nieuport Aviation (backed by J.P. Morgan Asset Management) bought the terminal from Porter in 2015 — and it’s not delivering. Traffic remains well below pre-COVID peaks (~1.75M vs 2.8M). Ford’s former Deputy Chief of Staff, Mark Lawson, has been lobbying hard for Nieuport and he has Ford’s ear. A better idea: Swing bridges on the Eastern Western Gaps for ped/bike/trolley access. This would open up the entire waterfront from the Beaches to the Humber. Turn the Islands (tied to the Port Lands) into a world-class car-free park like NYC’s Central Park or Chicago’s Millennium Park — year-round tourism, recreation, no more ferry bottlenecks. Waterfronts are for people, not runways. Toronto has aspired for decades to be a great city but consistently screws it up. Let’s finally do something to make Toronto a city we can be proud of.

Both Porter and Air Canada already fly out of both airports. Pearson just broke ground on a $3B expansion. We don’t need a $5B lake-fill project at Billy Bishop that will undermine Ontario Place, the Islands, the Port Lands, and the waterfront. This push exists because Nieuport Aviation (backed by J.P. Morgan Asset Management) bought the terminal from Porter in 2015 — and it’s not delivering. Traffic remains well below pre-COVID peaks (~1.75M vs 2.8M). Ford’s former Deputy Chief of Staff, Mark Lawson, has been lobbying hard for Nieuport and he has Ford’s ear. A better idea: Swing bridges on the Eastern Western Gaps for ped/bike/trolley access. This would open up the entire waterfront from the Beaches to the Humber. Turn the Islands (tied to the Port Lands) into a world-class car-free park like NYC’s Central Park or Chicago’s Millennium Park — year-round tourism, recreation, no more ferry bottlenecks. Waterfronts are for people, not runways. Toronto has aspired for decades to be a great city but consistently screws it up. Let’s finally do something to make Toronto a city we can be proud of.

On today’s episode of… “Only in Ontario” 😂 Bro really said “screw it” and took the 401 on a bicycle… In the middle of rush hour traffic with semis and SUVs flying by at 120km/h. This is how Darwin Awards get earned, folks. 401 drivers have truly seen it all now. You catching this on your dashcam too? #401 #Ontario #Toronto #HighwayFail #OnlyInCanada #WhatTheActual

Central Park is great, but it takes up a lot of space and isn’t utilized to its full potential. That’s why I worked with McKinsey on a plan to make it a state of the art data center, complemented by rooftop parking and nuclear power. We can still build beautiful things.

#BREAKING: Nate Erskine-Smith has filed a notice of appeal to the Ontario Liberal party to challenge the results of the Scarborough Southwest nomination, alleging "serious irregularities," according of a copy viewed by the Globe and Mail #onpoli

Let’s build the world’s best city park instead that people can actually use incorporate the Port Lands, the Island, and Harbourfront into one vision.

Dear Premier Ford, Great cities have unique places people want to visit. Toronto has few of them. But it does have two, or it could: the Toronto Islands and the Harbourfront. Both will be destroyed by expanding Billy Bishop airport. If you want to make Toronto a great place people want to visit, put a train/passenger bridge on the Eastern and Western Gaps and put in a circular tram to go around it. It would turn the harbour into an amazing playground with the best view in the world and make Toronto a must visit destination. Don’t destroy Toronto with an island airport.

I have posted this tweet on my blog as well: neil.blog/articles/an-open-l… And you support this please: 1) Send an email to your Member of Parliament (MP). Find your MP here: ourcommons.ca/members/en 2) Send an email to your Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP). Find your MPP here: ola.org/en/members/current 3) Send a letter in the mail to Mark Carney and/or your MP (no postage is necessary if mailed in Canada): (Name of Member of Parliament) House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario Canada K1A 0A6