Mr. Virani and Mr. Trudeau,


Helping Canadians get through the pandemic is one thing. Propping up an environmentally toxic business that is in the wrong location – a major park and a densely populated area – is another. As Community Air argues persuasively (see media release below): “Our waterfront is closer to [experiencing] enduring peace and quiet than it has been for many years. Isn’t this the opportunity to explore more compatible uses for this 215 acres of Island Airport land? Other cities have done so with great success.”


By coincidence, today I received a donation request from the Liberal Party of Canada, to which I donated the maximum allowable amount before the last federal election. Due to the lack of acceptable alternatives, I sighed and figured that I’d make another donation before the next election, despite your government’s many blunders (notably the cancelling of Canada’s early pandemic warning system, which could have spared the world COVID-19!).


This is because I am very careful about what constitutes a deal breaker when choosing a party to vote for and otherwise support. But let me be clear: Porter Airlines is a murderous parasite on Toronto. (I assume you have seen Toronto Public Health’s charts showing the high concentration of airport-related cancers in a wide zone around it.) As the Artistic Director for 20 years of an acclaimed and beloved waterfront concert series that was adversely impacted (to put it mildly) by ever-escalating noise from the Island Airport – I refer to Summer Music in the Garden – I know of what I speak. Porter belongs at Pearson International Airport.


If the federal government bails out Porter Airlines without requiring them to permanently relocate to Pearson, that will be my deal breaker: I will not support the Liberals in the upcoming election. And I live in a swing riding – Parkdale-High Park.


Please do the right thing and finally shut down the toxic Toronto Island Airport.


Tamara Bernstein