BACKGROUND

Every political controversy has its cast of characters, past battles, victories and losses. As the story in these pages demonstrates, that has been certainly true of the attempts to close the island airport. This issue is a classic clash between citizens on the one hand and the business elite that has long dominated the political life of Toronto and other Canadian cities.

The story itself shows how a controversy is played out in the public arena, but it is more than that. The issues around the island airport show how political elites use their power and influence to gain their objectives. At the moment the elites are prevailing over the majority of the people of Toronto and the city politicians.

But this story is still being written. Members of CommunityAIR are determined that Toronto will have a clean, green waterfront to pass on to future generations, free of the polluting airport that occupies such as large portion of the island and waterfront. We believe that we are fighting for the quality of life of all Torontonians and we must win.

When the last chapter is written, we are convinced that sanity will prevail and the airport will close. We hope you will be with us to achieve that goal.