Toronto Port Authority - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Toronto Port Authority (TPA) is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

port authority responsible for management of the harbour of Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

, including the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. The Authority is a federally-incorporated agency, with directors appointed by the Government of Canada

Government of Canada

The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...

, Government of Ontario

Government of Ontario

The Government of Ontario refers to the provincial government of the province of Ontario, Canada. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867....

and the City of Toronto.

The Authority is the successor agency of the Toronto Harbour Commission

Toronto Harbour Commission

The Toronto Harbour Commission was a joint federal-municipal government agency based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The agency managed Toronto Harbour as well as being responsible for major works along the Toronto waterfront. It built the Toronto Island Airport in 1939...

(THC) which managed Toronto Harbour

Toronto Harbour

Toronto Harbour or Toronto Bay is a bay on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a natural harbour, protected from Lake Ontario waves by the Toronto Islands. It is a commercial port on the Great Lakes as well as a recreational harbour...

since 1911, paid for through various subsidies. As part of a broad scheme of the federal government to modernize the administration of ports, operate ports in a business-like manner and divest itself of smaller ports, the TPA was set up in 1999 to operate the harbour and the airport. Toronto City Council, then developing its own plans for the harbour and waterfront, opposed the creation of the TPA, wishing to take over the harbour administration as a city function.

The new mission, to be self-sufficient, has led the TPA to pursue opportunities to increase its revenues, including expansion of the airport, and the building of the Cruise Ship Terminal. The expansion of the airport has placed it in opposition to various community groups and Toronto City Council, which in 2003 canceled a TPA-planned bridge to the Airport. Additionally, the TPA has been involved in several disputes, including a land dispute, harbour fees and property fees with the City, and lawsuits over the operation of the airport with Air Canada

Air Canada

Air Canada is the flag carrier and largest airline of Canada. The airline, founded in 1936, provides scheduled and charter air transport for passengers and cargo to 178 destinations worldwide. It is the world's tenth largest passenger airline by number of destinations, and the airline is a...

. In 2008, the TPA returned its first-ever profit, mostly from revenues on fees charged to passengers utilizing the airport, which has seen an increase of traffic since the 2006 launch of Porter Airlines

Porter Airlines

Porter Airlines is a regional airline headquartered at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Porter operates regularly scheduled flights between Toronto and locations in Canada and the United States using Canadian-built Bombardier Dash-8 Q 400...

Operations

The TPA operates the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, Marine Terminals 51 and 52, the Passenger Cruise Ship Facility and the Outer Harbour Marina. The TPA also provides regulatory controls and public works for marine and air navigation in the port and harbour of Toronto. The TPA grants operator's permits to recreational boaters in the harbour of Toronto, oversees land development, engages in trade development for its terminals, and appoints the Harbour Master

Harbourmaster

A harbourmaster is an official responsible for enforcing the regulations of a particular harbour or port, in order to ensure the safety of navigation, the security of the harbour and the correct operation of the port facilities.-Responsibilities:Harbourmasters are normally responsible for issuing...

. The TPA has a staff of 110 full-time employees and approximately 25 seasonal and part-time workers. As of December 2008, the TPA has $46 million CAD in capital assets.

Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport

The Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, commonly known as the 'island airport' is located at the western end of Toronto Islands

Toronto Islands

The Toronto Islands are a chain of small islands in the city of Toronto, Ontario. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the city centre, and provide shelter for Toronto Harbour...

. Operation of the airport is governed by a 1983 tripartite agreement between the Toronto Harbour Commission, the Government of Canada and the City of Toronto. The majority of the airport land is owned by the province with two small sections owned by the Government of Canada and a small section owned by the city. The land is leased to the TPA for a nominal amount until 2033 under the 1983 agreement. Access to the airport is by ferry services operated by the TPA.

Built in 1939 on land dredged from the harbour, it has three runways which can accommodate the smaller planes of regional scheduled airlines and general aviation aircraft. The 1983 agreement prohibits jet airplanes except in emergencies. In 2007, the number of landings and take-offs at the airport was 90,199. Because of its location near downtown and its tall buildings, industrial smokestacks and a wind turbine, air traffic into and out of the airport is controlled with approaches and departures routed over the lake. A seaplane base is located just east of the main apron. The airport is also used for medical flights.

The airport has been the site of operations of several regional airlines since the 1980s. The first airline was City Express, until 1990. This was followed by Air Ontario

Air Ontario

Air Ontario Inc. was a Canadian airline now part of Air Canada Jazz. It was headquartered in London, Ontario.- History :Air Ontario Inc. was established in June 1987, with the merger of Austin Airways, Canada’s oldest airline, which began service in 1934, and Air Ontario Ltd...

and Air Canada Jazz

Air Canada Jazz

Jazz Aviation LP is a Canadian regional airline based at Halifax Stanfield International Airport in Enfield and Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chorus Aviation....

. Since 2006, Porter Airlines

Porter Airlines

has operated out of the airport. The airline currently flies to several regional destinations including Ottawa, Montreal and Newark, Chicago, Boston, Halifax and Quebec City. The airport handled 1.1 million passengers in 2010.

Port of Toronto

Toronto Harbour

is roughly 3.2 kilometres (2 mi) by 1.6 kilometre (0.994196378639691 mi) and is sheltered by a string of offshore islands

Toronto Islands

. The TPA operates a 20 hectares (49.4 acre) paved facility consisting of Marine Terminal 51 and Warehouse 52 on the east side of the harbour. There are 3 miles (4.8 km) of deep-water wharfage for the loading and unloading of bulk products. Marine terminals include inside and outside storage, and some 6000 square feet (557.4 m²) of berthing space for ships carrying general cargo.
The port facilities include the Cruise Ship Facility, or International Marine Passenger Terminal which was built as a passenger terminal for a ferry to Rochester, New York

Rochester, New York

Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

. It was later used as the main setting for the CBC

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

crime drama The Border
The Border (TV series)
The Border is a Canadian drama airing on CBC Television and 20 other TV networks worldwide. It was created by Peter Raymont, Lindalee Tracey, Janet MacLean and Jeremy Hole of White Pine Pictures. The Executive in Charge of Production is Janice Dawe. Episodes in the first season were directed by...

.

The lands of the Port of Toronto used to be significantly larger. The Port Lands

Port Lands

The Port Lands of Toronto, Ontario, Canada are an industrial and recreational neighbourhood located about 5 kilometres south-east of downtown, located on the former Don River delta and most of Ashbridge's Bay....

surrounding the TPA facility were created by infilling the delta of the Don River by the Toronto Harbour Commission in the 1910s

1910s

File:1910s montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Model T Ford is introduced and becomes widespread; The sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic causes the deaths of nearly 1,500 people and attracts global and historical attention; Title bar: All the events below are part of World War I ; French Army lookout...

, and were owned and controlled by the Harbour Commission until the 1990s, when they were transferred to the City of Toronto. The lands are expected to be redeveloped into a new neighbourhood, by the Waterfront Toronto partnership. The north-east corner of the harbour, formerly housing marine terminals, is being redeveloped into the East Bayfront residential neighbourhood. The Don River mouth is planned to be 're-naturalized'.

At one time, the entire inner harbour waterfront was used as a transfer station for cargo, with rail lines connected directly to the wharfs. Changes in mode of transport and relocation of factories has meant the port transfers a relatively small amount of cargo today. The tonnage of cargo passing through the port is made up mostly of sugar to the Redpath refinery and aggregate materials such as sand, gravel and salt.

In 2007, the port handled 1.6 million tonnes of cargo, a 0.3% share out of almost 400 ports Canada-wide and 16th out of 19 Canada Port Authority ports by traffic.
In 2006, Transport Canada ranked Toronto 39th out of 313 ports in all of Canada in total tonnage shipped.
In 2006, the port handled 556 thousands tonnes of international cargo, 15th in international shipping activity in Ontario.

Other facilities

Other facilities operated by the Toronto Port Authority include:

Outer Harbour Marina is located on the Leslie Street Spit

Leslie Street Spit

The Leslie Street Spit, or officially the Outer Harbour East Headland, is a man-made headland in Toronto, Ontario, extending from the city's east end in a roughly southwesterly direction into Lake Ontario. It is about 5 km long....

in a protected channel with access to Lake Ontario and Toronto's Inner Harbour with 636 slips.

The Port Authority also offers a variety of services which include harbour maintenance, engineering services, lakefilling, shoreline protection, facility maintenance, marine services (power, water and dry dock facilities for ships), special cargo handling, dredging, topographic and hydrographic surveys, port security and many others.

The management offices are located in the Toronto Harbour Commission Building

Toronto Harbour Commission Building

The Toronto Harbour Commission Building is a six storey building erected in 1917 in Toronto by Alfred Chapman for the locally run Toronto Harbour Commission. It is now home to the Toronto Port Authority, a federal agency...

, located in downtown Toronto, just south of the Air Canada Centre

Air Canada Centre

The Air Canada Centre is a multi-purpose indoor sporting arena located on Bay Street in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada.The arena is popularly known as the ACC or the Hangar ....

Governance

The Toronto Port Authority is a public corporation. As such, it has a board of directors, appointed under regulations of the Canada Marine Act and the Letters patent

Letters patent

Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...

of the TPA. As originally set up, the Board was seven members, and was made up of one member appointed by the Government of Canada, one by the City, one by the Province of Ontario, and four by the federal government in consultation with the classes of users mentioned in the letters patent. The federal government changed the Letters Patent of the TPA in 2008 to modify this to nine members. The federal government transport minister now nominates seven of the nine members, one as the federal government representative and six "in consultation with the users selected by the Minister, or the classes of users mentioned in Schedule D of these Letters Patent."

The current structure replaces the older Toronto Harbour Commission that had a five-member board including three City of Toronto councillor

Councillor

A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...

s. Under the Letters Patent, no City of Toronto Councillor, Ontario Member of Parliament or Canadian Member of Parliament can be a director and no employee of the City of Toronto, Province of Ontario, or Government of Canada (or related agencies) can be a director. The 'users directors' are to be nominated by the businesses operating in the port, the airport, commercial users or recreational businesses. Like all port authorities created from harbour commissions, the aim was to update port operations so that it worked more like a business than a government agency.

This model of organization has been criticized for excluding persons or organizations that utilize the services in a non-commercial manner. The TPA has had to defend the choice and composition of the board of directors. Lisa Raitt

Lisa Raitt

Lisa Raitt, PC, MP is a Canadian politician, who is the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for the riding of Halton. She is the current Minister of Labour in the Cabinet of Canada.-Background:...

, former TPA CEO has stated: "It's a community-based board of directors".

In 2008, Board members were paid between $13,000 and $18,000 each for their services.

Senior management

The current chief executive officer (CEO) is Geoffrey A. Wilson, who joined the TPA on December 11, 2009. Wilson was previously the chief operating officer of Cartel Communications Systems Inc. and was an executive with various transportation firms. The current harbourmaster is Angus Armstrong, who has held the post since 2004. Ken Lundy has been the director of Toronto City Centre Airport since April 2007.

Board of directors

Current members of the board:

Jeremy Adams - a director of government relations for a tobacco company and a past president of his university's alumni association, appointed January, 2009 by Transport Minister John Baird
John Baird (Canadian politician)
John Russell Baird, PC, MP is a Canadian politician currently serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper....

. He is a long-time Conservative Party member, having worked for Ontario minister Elizabeth Witmer
Elizabeth Witmer
Elizabeth Witmer is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1990, originally representing Waterloo North and later Kitchener—Waterloo for the Progressive Conservative Party.Witmer moved with her family to Ontario at a young age...

, former Ontario premier Mike Harris
Mike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...

and former provincial and current (as of 2009) federal finance minister Jim Flaherty
Jim Flaherty
James Michael "Jim" Flaherty, PC, MP is Canada's Minister of Finance and he has also served as Ontario's Minister of Finance. From 1995 until 2005, he was the Member of Provincial Parliament for Whitby—Ajax, and a member of the Progressive Conservative Party caucus...

. Adams was nominated as a 'user' representative on the board.

G. Mark Curry - appointed September 2009 by Minister Baird. Curry is the president of Revmar Inc., an investment consulting firm located in Toronto, since 1980. He is a director of EGI Financial Holdings and Sargasso Capital Corporation.

David Gurin - representative of City of Toronto, appointed December 2008. He was the former commissioner of planning for the former Metro Toronto, and a deputy commissioner of transportation in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.

Mark McQueen (chair)- Appointed March 2008. Mark McQueen is President & CEO of Wellington Financial LP, a Toronto-based specialty finance firm. He was a banker from 1993 until December 2004 when he joined Wellington Financial full-time. He serves on the boards of the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association, and Nexient Learning Inc. He is also a past member of the board of governors of the University of Western Ontario and the board of directors of EnGlobe Corp., Intrinsyc Software and Top Aces Inc. McQueen was nominated as a 'users director' on the board. McQueen was paid $16,000 in 2008. McQueen is a Conservative Party member and worked as Hugh Segal's executive assistant in the Prime Minister Office of Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...

. McQueen donates his fees to charity.

Sean L. Morley - A partner in the Business Law section of the Fasken Martineau law firm, appointed December 23, 2008 by Transport Minister Baird. He is a long-time Conservative Party member, and has worked in the past for former provincial and current (as of 2009) federal finance minister Jim Flaherty
Jim Flaherty
James Michael "Jim" Flaherty, PC, MP is Canada's Minister of Finance and he has also served as Ontario's Minister of Finance. From 1995 until 2005, he was the Member of Provincial Parliament for Whitby—Ajax, and a member of the Progressive Conservative Party caucus...

. Morley was nominated as a 'users director' on the board.

Robert Poirier - Appointed September 2009 by Minister Baird. He is a vice-president and corporate officer, relationship management and sales, with State Street Financial in Toronto. Poirier has been a Conservative Party fundraiser since 2005.

Craig Stuart Rix - Rix is the federal government representative on the board of directors. A partner with the law firm of Hicks Morley where he works out of their Toronto offices. He serves on several boards, including the Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, The Dominion Institute and the Ontario Economic Summit Steering Council. Rix spent three years (1996–1999) as a senior political policy advisor with the Mike Harris
Mike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...

Ontario government. He was appointed by Minister Cannon in 2008. Rix was paid $13,000 in 2008.

Colin D. Watson - He was appointed to the board in August 2006 by Minister Cannon. Until 2006, he was president and CEO of Rogers Cable
Rogers Cable
Rogers Cable Inc., a subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc., is Canada's largest cable television service provider with about 2.25 million television customers, and over 930,000 Internet subscribers, in Manitoba, Southern & Eastern Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.The...

and had earlier been the CEO of Spar Aerospace Limited
Spar Aerospace
SPAR Aerospace was a Canadian aerospace company. It produced equipment for the Canadian Space Agency to be used in cooperation with NASA's Space Shuttle program, most notably the Canadarm remote manipulator system....

from 1996 until 2002, and President & CEO of Vector Aerospace Corp from 2003 until 2005. One of Vector Aerospace's directors during that period was Robert Deluce
Robert Deluce
Robert J. Deluce is a Canadian airline executive. He is currently the president and CEO of regional airline Porter Airlines and a past airline executive with Air Ontario and other airlines.-Career:...

, the CEO of Porter Airlines
Porter Airlines
Porter Airlines is a regional airline headquartered at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Porter operates regularly scheduled flights between Toronto and locations in Canada and the United States using Canadian-built Bombardier Dash-8 Q 400...

. Watson was nominated as a 'users director' on the board. Watson was paid $16,000 in 2008.

Past members of the board have included:

Christopher M. Henley - He was appointed to the board in August 2006 by Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon
Lawrence Cannon
Lawrence Cannon, PC is a Canadian politician from Quebec and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former Quebec lieutenant. On October 30, 2008 he was sworn in as Minister of Foreign Affairs...

. At the time of his appointment to the board, he was president of Henley Capital Corp. and has previously served as CEO of British Petroleum Canada
British Petroleum Canada
BP Canada Energy Company is a Canadian oil and gas company that is a subsidiary of British-owned BP plc . It began operations in 1948 and for many years was in retail operations until they were acquired by Petro-Canada in 1982...

. Henley had 24 years of experience in industry and investment banking. Henley was paid $16,000 in 2008. He served from August 2006 until August 2009.

Douglas Reid - Teacher in business strategy at Queen's School of Business, recently concluded a 6-year job working for an Alberta-based energy firm. Appointed by Minister Cannon in August 2006. Reid was paid $14,000 in 2008. He served from August 2006 until August 2009.

Cameron J. Turner - A Canadian partner of Corporate Development International and a member of the Toronto Board of Trade. Appointed by Minister Cannon in August 2006. Served from 2006 until August 22, 2007.

Krista L. Scaldwell - Serves as director of consumer healthcare at Pfizer
Pfizer
Pfizer, Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation. The company is based in New York City, New York with its research headquarters in Groton, Connecticut, United States...

. Appointed by Minister Cannon in August 2006. Served from 2006 until August 1, 2007, but attended meetings in 2008 for which she was paid $3,000.

Michele McCarthy - A lawyer at McCarthy Tétrault
McCarthy Tétrault
McCarthy Tétrault LLP is a law firm with offices in Canada’s major commercial centres and in London, UK. It provides business law, litigation, tax, real estate, and labour and employment law services....

, appointed 2004 by the Ontario government. McCarthy has served as chairwoman for the board. At one point in 2006, McCarthy was the only member of the board of directors. McCarthy was paid $18,000 in 2008.

Paul Hayes — President of AeroCan Aviation Specialists Inc.
Henry Pankratz — President of CavanCore Capital
Steve Mirkopoulos — President of Cinespace Film Studios

Previous CEOs/GMs include:

John Morand
Lisa Raitt

Financial status

Like other port authorities in Canada, the TPA is expected to be self-sufficient. From its inception until 2008, the TPA failed to turn a profit. Self-sufficiency tests conducted on behalf of Transport Canada in both 2003 and 2004 looked at the TPA's business plan for the future, allowing them to maintain their port authority status as long as they could project a profit.

The TPA introduced a $15 per flight Airport Improvement Fee in October 2006 on passengers departing on scheduled flights from the airport which, by 2008, generated enough revenues for the TPA to make a profit for the first time. The fee generated $1.983 million in 2007 and $3.877 million in 2008. In its 2008 financial report, the TPA's Statement of Revenue and Expenses shows an income from operations of $2.251 million, with overall net income of $863,000, compared to a loss on operations of $1.877 million in 2007. For the first six months of 2009, the TPA had a net income of $1.154 million, 34% more than the net income reported for all of fiscal 2008.
The TPA did post a profit in 2009, and announced it had also made a $7.1 million profit for 2010.

Creation

Prior to 1999, Toronto's harbour was managed by the Toronto Harbour Commission

Toronto Harbour Commission

(THC), created by a federal act in 1911. At first, the Commission managed the harbour as well as waterfront lands across the then City of Toronto beyond the harbour area, including the Sunnyside waterfront area, east of the Humber River

Humber River (Ontario)

The Humber River is one of two major rivers on either side of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the other being the Don River to the east. It was designated a Canadian Heritage River on September 24, 1999....

. Over time, the facilities and lands other than the inner and outer harbour and the airport were transferred to the management of the City of Toronto and other authorities, leaving the THC to manage the airport and harbour. The THC received lease revenues and subsidies from the various governments to carry on its activities.

Starting in December 1994, the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Transportation initiated a study of Canada's marine transportation sector. After consultations across the country, the Committee produced its National Marine Strategy in May 1995. In December 1995, the federal government announced a new National Marine Policy to reform the governance of ports, harbours and the St. Lawrence Seaway. The plan was to modernize the system, and divest the government of port operations and make the financially self-sufficient where possible. At the time, there were 2,700 ports under federal government authority. The vast majority were reclassified as regional or local. Under the divestiture, the government was to offer the Transport Canada harbours to other federal departments, then provinces and territories, and finally to industries or municipalities. Similar divestitures had taken place previously in the field of airport management.

In June 1996, the government introduced the Canada Marine Act. The Act would enable the creation of port authorities, commercialize the St. Lawrence Seaway and divest ports and harbours. A schedule of the Act listed eight ports to be covered and did not include Toronto. Transport Canada held consultations on the plan and the City of Toronto did not participate, expecting that Toronto Harbour would not be covered by the Act. From July to October 1996, a study was done by accounting firm Nesbitt Burns of other possible ports, including Toronto. Nesbitt Burns concluded that Toronto was not self-sufficient and should not be included. In April 1997, the Act was approved by Parliament with an amendment to add eight other ports, including Toronto.

At the Senate, Jack Layton

Jack Layton

John Gilbert "Jack" Layton, PC was a Canadian social democratic politician and the Leader of the Official Opposition. He was the leader of the New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011, and previously sat on Toronto City Council, serving at times during that period as acting mayor and deputy mayor of...

, then the Chair of the City Planning and Transportation Committee of Metro Council, and Martin Silva, a THC commissioner appeared to argue against the inclusion of Toronto under the Act as it would make it difficult for the City to harmonize its waterfront plans with a port authority. THC chairman Charles Parmelee and Howard Joy, THC vice-chairmen appeared to argue that the Toronto Port should be included. The federal election of 1997 intervened and the bill died. The Act was re-introduced by Minister of Transport David Collenette

David Collenette

David Michael Collenette, PC was a Canadian politician from 1974 to 2004, and a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. A graduate from York University's Glendon College in 1969, he subsequently received his MA from in 2004...

in October 1997. The list included Toronto. Collenette spoke to the inclusion of Toronto, stating:

“While there had been some degree of controversy about the designation of Toronto as a Canadian Port Authority, this certainly was not from the members of Parliament from the Toronto area, who insisted on this being included in the last Bill. The provincial government and most municipal leaders, business leaders and others in the Toronto area, supported this designation. The harbour could attract new business and grow from just being where it was and that a port authority representing users, more reflective of a commercial approach, taking the matter out of the hands of local politicians and indeed even, I suppose, other politicians would be a better way to develop the port.”

In February 1998, Toronto City Council passed a resolution opposing the bill. The City opposed the bill because the Port of Toronto did not qualify under the criteria proposed by the Act, the diminishing role of the City, difficulties in the planning of land development and the exclusion of elected Councillors serving on the TPA Board of Directors. This was brought to the Senate's attention in an appearance of Toronto's Chief Planner at a Senate hearing in April 1998. The Act was passed in May 1998 with the only amendment being the addition of Hamilton to the Schedule.

The Toronto Port Authority (TPA) came into being on June 8, 1999 and the THC was dissolved. The Letters Patent for the new organization provided for it to be governed as an independent agency, with seven directors, one each to be chosen by the federal, provincial and municipal governments, and the others to be representative of the commercial users of the harbour. The TPA received the harbour assets of the former Commission, including inner and outer harbour lands, the airport and the Harbour Commission building. Like the other port authorities, it was to be self-sufficient in its activities, charging fees to the users of the harbour and airport.

2001–2004 Lands dispute and airport bridge plan

In 2001, the TPA filed a $1 billion CAD

Canadian dollar

The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...

lawsuit over 600 acres (242.8 ha) of land that was transferred in the 1990s to the City of Toronto's Toronto Economic Development Corporation (TEDCO) by the Toronto Harbour Commission. The disputed lands, mostly the infill lands of the Don River delta, constituted around 85% of the THC's land assets as of the early 1990s. The lands had been transferred in two separate agreements, in 1991 and 1994 in exchange for a permanent subsidy for the THC. The TPA's legal claim was that the transfer had been done while the majority of directors of the THC were City-appointed, and who had acted in the City's interest and not in the Commission's 'fiduciary interest'. And that the deals crippled the THC's ability to be self-sufficient by ending any potential revenues from those lands. As the TPA was inheriting the role and activities of the THC, it was thus crippled itself.

TEDCO and the City had earmarked the lands for waterfront revitalization upon the recommendations of the Crombie Commission on the Waterfront. Thus, while the TPA was seeking approval of the Island Airport fixed link, it potentially threatened the ability of the City to proceed on waterfront revitalization. City Council, leading up to the debate on the fixed link plan, made the settlement of the lawsuit a condition of the approval of the fixed link. On November 28, 2002, Council in a day-long debate, made two votes to settle the issue. First, Council voted 32–9 to accept a settlement to end the TPA port-lands lawsuit in exchange for an immediate payment of $5.5 million and an annual subsidy of $5.5 million to the TPA until 2012. Council then voted 29–11 to approve the amendment of the tripartite agreement to permit a fixed link and the construction of a lift bridge. In return, the TPA dropped its claim to the lands and the permanent subsidy in exchange for money and permission to build the fixed link. In its estimation, the TPA would thus be able to be self-sufficient and contribute to waterfront revitalization.

In 2002, the TPA made plans to link the airport to the mainland with a new bridge to support an expansion of services. At the time, a TPA-sponsored public opinion poll showed that Torontonians supported maintaining the airport over converting it to a park. On November 28, 2002, Toronto City Council

Toronto City Council

The Toronto City Council is the governing body of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Members represent wards throughout the city, and are known as councillors....

, led by then-mayor Mel Lastman

Mel Lastman

Melvin Douglas "Mel" Lastman , nicknamed "Mayor Mel", is a former businessman and politician. He is the founder of the Bad Boy Furniture chain. He served as the mayor of the former city of North York, Ontario, Canada from 1972 until 1997. At the end of 1997, North York, along with five other...

, approved the amendment of the tripartite agreement to permit a fixed link and the construction of a lift bridge.

The next year, a municipal election year, saw public opinion change to oppose the bridge. In October 2003, a Toronto Star

Toronto Star

The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...

poll listed 53% of residents city-wide opposed the airport bridge, while 36% supported it. Councillor David Miller

David Miller (Canadian politician)

David Raymond Miller is a Canadian politician. He was the 63rd Mayor of Toronto and the second since the 1998 amalgamation. He was elected to the position in 2003 for a three-year term and re-elected in 2006 for a four-year term...

ran for Mayor on a platform to stop the building of the bridge, a position supported by Community Air and other local community groups. Other mayoral candidates Barbara Hall

Barbara Hall

Barbara Hall is a Canadian lawyer, public servant and former politician. She was the 61st mayor of Toronto, the last to run before amalgamation. She was elected mayor of the pre-amalgamation City of Toronto in 1994, and held office until December 31, 1997...

and John Tory

John Tory

John Howard Tory is a Canadian businessman, political activist, former leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, former Member of Provincial Parliament and broadcaster...

supported the bridge. Despite the bridge being an election issue, the Port Authority continued developing the project, progressing to the point that contracts were signed with major participants (including companies operating from the airport).

On November 10, 2003, Mr. Miller was elected Mayor of Toronto with 44% of the vote. While construction workers prepared the construction site, Miller immediately started the process to cancel the bridge project, sparking threats of a lawsuit from the TPA. The incoming City Council voted 26–18 on December 3, 2003 to withdraw its support of the bridge project and federal Transport Minister David Collenette

David Collenette

announced that the federal government would accept the Council's position on the bridge and withdraw its support.

In January 2004, the federal government put approval of the project on hold, preventing its construction. Immediately, regional airline proponent Robert Deluce

Robert Deluce

Robert J. Deluce is a Canadian airline executive. He is currently the president and CEO of regional airline Porter Airlines and a past airline executive with Air Ontario and other airlines.-Career:...

would file a $505 million lawsuit against the City of Toronto, claiming that Miller "abused his powers", by threatening councillors, had Toronto Fire Services and Toronto Hydro "interfere with the construction of a fixed link" and lobbying the federal government to "withhold certain permits." The federal government later transferred $35 million to the TPA in May 2005 to settle claims arising from the cancellation from Deluce, Aecon Construction and Stolport Corp. Compensation terms were not disclosed. Lisa Raitt, Port Authority CEO would be quoted as saying "You will never hear about the bridge again." and "We have been working very hard since December of 2003 to deal with the request of the City of Toronto not to build a bridge, and we are very happy that the matter has been dealt with." New federal regulations were introduced to ban any future plans to build a fixed link to the airport.

2003-2006: Ferry to Rochester

As the bridge dispute was ending, the TPA was embarking on a plan to bring a fast ferry service between Toronto and Rochester

Rochester, New York

. By December 2003, the ferry terminal was already built in Rochester. The TPA agreed to use $8 million in funds from the City of Toronto lands dispute settlement to build a terminal near Cherry Beach on TPA land. Using a temporary terminal, the ferry, named the Spirit of Ontario I, started the service in June 2004, operated by Canadian American Transportation Systems

Canadian American Transportation Systems

Canadian American Transportation Systems, or "CATS", was a company based in Rochester, New York which initiated a passenger/vehicle ferry service on Lake Ontario, connecting Rochester with Toronto....

(CATS) while the permanent terminal was being constructed. Although popular with Rochester visitors to Toronto, carrying 130,000 passengers, CATS failed after only a few months in September 2004, $2.1 million in debt. The failure was attributed to unexpected costs of Canada Customs fees, US border security not allowing transport trucks onto the ferry and CATS' under-capitalization.

The TPA stopped construction of the terminal, which had increased in price to $10.5 million, but restarted construction after the City of Rochester made plans to purchase the ferry and restart the service. The new passenger terminal building opened in June 2005. It included a Canada Customs

Canada Border Services Agency

The Canada Border Services Agency is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border enforcement, immigration enforcement and customs services....

station. It was the first new border crossing between Canada and the United States in over 40 years. It would be the only year of service for the station. Ferry service was halted in January 2006 when a newly elected city council in Rochester cancelled funding, after incurring costs of $10 million (USD) in 2005. The terminal was closed down and is sometimes used as a docking station for cruise ships.

2006 Federal review

On May 1, 2006 the Federal Government's Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon

Lawrence Cannon

Lawrence Cannon, PC is a Canadian politician from Quebec and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former Quebec lieutenant. On October 30, 2008 he was sworn in as Minister of Foreign Affairs...

announced that a review of the agency would be conducted. The review was carried out by Roger Tassé (a former deputy Minister of Justice). The review looked into the history and operations of the government agency, including the contracts it signed for the airport bridge. The report was completed in October 2006. The review found that "the TPA has in all respects complied with due diligence requirements and the generally respected principles of good governance".

The report made four recommendations:

(on transparency and accountability) - That the TPA adopt changes to its organization, produce an annual report and fulfil its reporting in a timely manner.
(on community relations) - That the TPA be more pro-active in its approach to community consultations.
(on board of directors vacancies) - That the agreement be amended to allow the continuation of Board membership past expiry.
(on federal interest in the Toronto Port and Airport) - That the federal government, in particular, elected members, participate in discussions as to the federal interest.

Source:

Critics of the airport were less than enthusiastic about the report. NDP MP Olivia Chow

Olivia Chow

Olivia Chow is a Canadian New Democratic Party Member of Parliament and former city councillor in Toronto. She won the Trinity—Spadina riding for the New Democratic Party on January 23, 2006, becoming a member of the Canadian House of Commons. Most recently, she was re-elected in her riding for...

, a frequent critic, called it a "total whitewash" while Toronto Mayor David Miller said the document is "not worth the paper it's written on". In responding to the criticism, Mr. Tassé defended the report and questioned whether critics such as Miller and Chow had even read it.

2006-present: Launch of Porter and profitability

In 2006, Porter Airlines started service at the airport. Porter had purchased the island terminal which Jazz was using and evicted the airline from the airport. The TPA banned Jazz from using other airport facilities without a contract with the TPA and Jazz abandoned the airport and filed a law suit. During this time, the TPA was under the Tassé review, and had only one member on its board of directors, Michele McCarthy, the Ontario representative on the board. Ottawa did not appoint directors during the review, and Toronto refused to name a director, in opposition to the TPA's existence.

That same year, the TPA invested $15 million in upgrades to the airport, including a new ferry, the TCCA1, to replace the old ferry to the airport. The TPA also imposed a $15 airport improvement fee, which along with the increase in passengers for Porter's service has increased the TPA's revenues to the point where in 2008, it reported its first profit on revenues. The TPA has purchased a new ferry for the airport using the airport improvement fees. The ferry purchase lead to a TPA Board of Directors dispute and conflict-of-interest investigation.

In 2009, the TPA proposed a new $38 million pedestrian tunnel to the airport. The TPA sought to have the project paid for out of federal and provincial governments economic stimulus program funds. TPA's critics (Olivia Chow, David Miller and Adam Vaughan) have publicly stated their opposition to the tunnel. According to Community Air, the tunnel is not allowed by the regulation imposed in 2005 that prohibits a fixed link to the airport. Mark McQueen, TPA chair has stated that the regulation does not apply to a tunnel. The TPA released a poll showing that 62% of Toronto residents support the tunnel. The tunnel project has also garnered the support of the Toronto Board of Trade and Economic Club of Canada business associations and Ornge, the medevac provider. The TPA abandoned the project in October 2009, when it determined it could not finish the project on time to qualify for stimulus funds.

Although the fast ferry to Rochester had failed, the TPA continued to receive money from the City of Rochester

Rochester, New York

for rent of the cruise ship terminal. This ended in December 2009 in a settlement between the TPA and Rochester, where the TPA received $90,000 to terminate the lease. The TPA had been renting the terminal for use in a television series.

In 2010, the TPA relaunched its plan to build the pedestrian tunnel to the island airport. According to the new plan, the tunnel would be funded by passenger user fees and be built in a commercial partnership. In July 2010, the TPA announced that it would start an environmental assessment of its own on the project and hoped to start construction of the tunnel in 2011. The TPA also announced that a poll conducted on behalf of the TPA suggested that "a majority (56%) of Torontonians support a pedestrian tunnel to the
island airport."

Controversies

Since its inception, the TPA has been involved in various disputes with the City of Toronto, Air Canada, Community Air and local community groups. These battles mostly are about the Island airport. In 2009, it became public knowledge that the directors of the agency were divided. Several of the dissident directors, appointed by the federal government, were replaced by new federal government appointees.

2009 Board of Directors dispute

In June 2009, it became public knowledge that four members (Mr. David Gurin, Mr. Chris Henley, Ms. Michele McCarthy and Mr. Doug Reid) of the TPA Board of Directors sent a letter in March 2009 to the Minister of Transport John Baird on the topics of "Conflict of Interest, Expenses, Procurement policy, Information Flow, Audit Committee access, Board counsel termination and Illegal chair election" at the TPA, according to a June 8, 2009 press release from Board Chair Mark McQueen. McQueen termed the letter as:

"nothing more than an effort by a disgruntled minority of our Board to smear the reputation of those members of the Board who support the existence of the Toronto City Centre Airport ("TCCA") and who voted in favour of a new, larger passenger ferry in January 2009"

The press release was in response to Olivia Chow holding a press conference to release the letter, which Chow characterized as "explosive allegations of misconduct against some Toronto Port Authority Board members and staff." Chow wrote to the federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser

Sheila Fraser

Sheila Fraser served as Auditor General of Canada from 2001 to 2011.Ms. Fraser was born in Dundee, Quebec, Canada. She earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University in 1972. She then became a chartered accountant in 1974 and FCA in 1994...

on June 5, 2009 to ask for an audit of the Authority. At the news conference, the contents of the letter were released. The practices that the directors objected to included annual expenses of $50,000 on meals at the Harbour 60 restaurant, $80,000 in expenses by Raitt and $65,000 paid to a legal firm whose legal opinion was with-held from other board members. Chow called for an immediate investigation into the agency.

In November 2009, the Toronto Star

Toronto Star

The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...

published its investigation of Chow's charges. The Star found that the election of Mark McQueen as chair of the TPA was contested. McQueen was elected chair at the March 2008 directors' meeting, replacing Michelle McCarthy, the Province of Ontario representative. Only five of the six board members were present, and no notice was given that a vote to replace McCarthy was given to the directors. The election was disputed, with the TPA's own legal firm stating that the regulations were not followed, and the election "unlawful". Under the direction of McQueen and Raitt, another law firm was engaged to provide a second legal opinion. The second opinion dissented from the first, stating that the election was lawful. The December 2008 meeting of the TPA was held under the chairmanship of McQueen, although this was contested by McCarthy. The Star published the minutes as taken at the meeting, which were signed by Henley, listing McQueen as only attending. However, a revised minutes document was made that listed McQueen as chair, with controversial material removed, such as complaints over the interference of the Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon and his staff. According to McQueen, the original minutes were an attempt to embarrass certain board members, and the 'unnecessary verbiage' removed. A January 21, 2009 meeting of the TPA board, with its three new directors (two appointed by the federal government and the third by the City of Toronto) subsequently voted for a second time to name McQueen as chair by a 5-4 vote.

The TPA took issue with the Toronto Star investigation, declaring it "rife with errors and falsehoods", having a "lack of balance" and "Linda Diebel had information and documents in hand which demonstrated that she was being misled by biased sources, she inexplicably proceeded to publish serious and false accusations." On November 6, the TPA published several budget documents to document the inaccuracies in the investigation. As part of the 2008 budget, the TPA had pre-approved a London trip by Raitt, which director McCarthy said was not approved, and that Raitt had signed off on. The Star had incorrectly noted that Alan Paul had approved the minutes, when in fact it was Ron Paul, a legal trainee, however the TPA did not dispute that the minutes had been changed. The Star published a notice of correction. In a November 2009 press release, the TPA noted that "the Star has yet to acknowledge the failings in the series nor has it apologized for the false accusations made in the first two articles."

The opposition Liberals and NDP both demanded that Ottawa conduct an investigation of the TPA and Raitt's expenses. Raitt declared that she is in caught in the middle of a dispute between two groups of directors on the TPA board. After delaying a final part of its investigation, the Star published its final part of its investigation, detailing the use of public relations firms by the TPA to counter its critics. One of the firms used for strategic communications purposes is Liberal

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

strategist Warren Kinsella

Warren Kinsella

Warren James Douglas Kinsella , is a Toronto-based Canadian, lawyer, author, musician, political consultant, commentator, and blogger...

's Daisy Consulting Group.

Conflict of interest probe

In April 2009, Federal Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson began investigating the TPA Board of Directors over conflict of interest. The probe revolved around the TPA's controversial vote to purchase a new island airport ferry in January 2009, a vote of 5-4 in favour. The ethics commission did not name the board member under investigation, but the Ottawa Citizen

Ottawa Citizen

The Ottawa Citizen is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Canada. According to the Canadian Newspaper Association, the paper had a 2008 weekly circulation of 900,197.- History :...

reported that board members were asked about director Colin Watson and his relationship with Porter Airlines' CEO Robert Deluce

Robert Deluce

. Watson contended that the investigation "was a result of political tensions on the Port Authority's board of directors".
On June 25, 2009, Dawson's report was released, revealing that it was Watson who was under investigation. Dawson specifically cleared board member Watson of conflict of interest. Ms. Dawson stated: “I believe that Mr. Watson exercised his duties both as a Director of the Toronto Port Authority and as Chair of the Audit & Finance Committee with the genuine conviction that the new ferry was a good thing for the TPA as a whole and for the Airport’s primary user, Porter Airlines. I do not believe that Mr. Watson was motivated by a desire to further the private interests of Mr. Deluce. I am therefore satisfied that Mr. Watson did not ‘improperly’ further the private interests of Mr. Deluce.”

2008–09 Board Appointments

In December 2008 and January 2009, the Government of Canada, appointed two new members to the board of directors of the Authority, expanding the number of directors to nine. This was done after the City of Toronto named a representative to the board, and the existing board voted against expanding the board size. The Letters Patent were modified in December 2008 to raise the number of directors to nine, it was originally seven. The Harper government then named two new directors. The new members, both having ties to the Conservative Party of Canada

Conservative Party of Canada

The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...

, were criticized on their merits and the appearance of patronage. Toronto Councillor Adam Vaughan

Adam Vaughan

Adam Vaughan is a councillor representing Ward 20 Trinity—Spadina in Toronto, Canada. For about 20 years, Vaughan worked as a political journalist and activist, most recently as the Political Specialist at Citytv/CP24. Before that, for ten years, he reported for CBLT in Toronto as a municipal...

, whose ward includes the Island Airport, and who has been critical of the TPA in the past, called Jeremy Adams's appointment "absolutely unacceptable", and the two appointments amounting to the federal government "stacking" the board with pro-Airport members. Chris Day, a spokesman for federal Transport Minister John Baird

John Baird (Canadian politician)

John Russell Baird, PC, MP is a Canadian politician currently serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper....

was quoted as stating that "is taking steps to preserve the Island Airport's continued status as an important catalyst for Toronto's economic competitiveness". The number of board members now totals nine, which is two more than the seaports of Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

and Halifax and one fewer than Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

Lobbying efforts

In 2006, the TPA was criticized for its use of lobbyists by Olivia Chow

Olivia Chow

, NDP MP for the riding including the Airport. Chow accused the governing Harper government of backing down on a promise to slay cronyism in Ottawa because Tory-connected lobbyists were pushing the expansion of Toronto's controversial island airport. Then-CEO Lisa Raitt

Lisa Raitt

stated that the Port Authority spends around CDN $50,000 a year on lobbyists, and confirmed that their lobbyists are: Peter Naglik (a former speech writer for Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...

), Vic Gupta (Ontario PC Party treasurer, former deputy campaign manager for John Tory
John Tory
John Howard Tory is a Canadian businessman, political activist, former leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, former Member of Provincial Parliament and broadcaster...

's 2003 failed bid for Toronto Mayor, and until June 2006 on Jane Pitfield
Jane Pitfield
Jane Pitfield was a Toronto city councillor, representing one of the two Don Valley West wards. She ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Toronto in 2006.-Personal life:...

's election team) and Bill Hearn (lawyer).

Breaches of Landing Curfew Times

It was reported at the TPA public meeting of September 2009 that Porter has landed its planes at the airport without any air traffic controllers on duty. And that Porter has been landing planes after the 11:00 flight curfew, when such flights should have been diverted to Toronto Pearson International (where air traffic controllers are on duty at all hours). There are no regulations that prohibit aircraft from landing at the TCCA when no air traffic controllers are present. Curfew breaches have occurred and are handled on a case by case basis by the TPA. The TPA fines Porter $5,000 for each such landing.

Dispute over payments in lieu of taxes to the City of Toronto

Federal agencies such as the TPA do not pay property taxes as such, but instead some negotiated amount to account for municipal services, known as 'Payments in lieu of taxes' (PILTs). For the period from 1999 until 2008, the Toronto Port Authority did not make payments in lieu of property tax to the City of Toronto on the Island Airport in a dispute over the amount of the payment. In April 2006, the City applied to the Federal PILTs Dispute Advisory Panel. The City withheld $10 million in contractual payments owed to the TPA pending the dispute resolution.

By 2009, the City estimated that the port authority owed $37 million in unpaid payments in lieu of property tax. This value was based on the land value of the property, its assessed value as calculated by the Ontario government assessment agency. In 2008, the City and TPA submitted their case to the Dispute Advisory Panel. On January 26, 2009, the Dispute Advisory Panel recommended an amount of $5 million that the Port Authority must pay. This value was based on similar payments made by other airports, which make the payments based on passenger numbers. Pearson Airport

Toronto Pearson International Airport

Toronto Pearson International Airport is an international airport serving Toronto, Ontario, Canada; its metropolitan area; and the Golden Horseshoe, an urban agglomeration that is home to 8.1 million people – approximately 25% of Canada's population...

, at the time of the ruling paid 94 cents per passenger. The ruling by the Dispute Panel works out to 80 cents per passenger. On February 10, 2009, the City applied for a judicial review to the Federal Court of Canada

Federal Court of Canada

The Federal Court of Canada was a national court of Canada that heard some types of disputes arising under the central government's legislative jurisdiction...

.

On November 25, 2009, the City and the TPA came to an agreement in principle to settle all outstanding legal issues. Both sides agreed to accept the other's estimate of monies owned. The City will pay $11.4 million owing on payments related to the 2002 property settlement and $380,559 owing on harbour user fees. The TPA will pay the City $6.4 million owned to resolve the dispute over the PILTs. The agreement, which was ratified by Toronto City Council in 2010, was made in conjunction with the transfer of 18 acres (7.3 ha) of land at Leslie Street and Lakeshore Boulevard for a proposed Toronto Transit Commission

Toronto Transit Commission

-Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...

(TTC) light rail storage facility.

Air Canada Jazz vs. TPA and Porter

On February 15, 2006, Air Canada

Air Canada

announced that their lease for use of terminal space controlled by City Centre Aviation (CCAL) at the Toronto City Centre Airport was terminated by CCAL. CCAL had been bought out by REGCO Holdings (now Porter Aviation Holdings) as a precursor to the terminal facility being used for Porter Airlines

Porter Airlines

. On February 27, 2006, Air Canada lost a court appeal against REGCO and eventually abandoned its legal case against REGCO in August 2006.

However Air Canada Jazz

Air Canada Jazz

was not completely finished. In July 2006, Jazz announced that it would resume operations at the airport as of August 2006. However the TPA countered that Jazz could not operate without a 'commercial carrier operating agreement', which Jazz refused to sign, because it would "unfairly limit its access to the facilities." Unable to fly without the TPA authority, Jazz discontinued its plans to resume flights one month later.

Jazz filed a $11.5 million law-suit against the TPA and later, Porter, in the Ontario Superior Court in February 2006, alleging that the TPA signed contracts forcing Jazz out of the airport, causing a monopoly at the airport, and were anti-competitive. Jazz later filed a suit in Federal Court. On October 20, 2009, Jazz formally dropped its suit in Ontario Court, but plans to continue its law-suit against Porter and the TPA in Federal Court. According to the announcement, Jazz dropped the matter in provincial court as the TPA is a federal agency, and the Airport is a federal facility. Damages in the federal case are not specified. Porter filed a counter-claim to Jazz' lawsuit citing damages of $850 million, based on Jazz agreement with Air Canada, and Porter has not dropped its counter-claim.

Air Canada abandoned its legal actions in the Federal Court, but pursued a judicial review of TPA's plans to open the airport to other airlines. The action was heard in Federal Court in July 2010, and the Court dismissed Air Canada's claims against the TPA's decisions of December 2009 and April 2010 with respect to the airport slot allocations.

2006 TPA vs. Community Air lawsuit

In 2006, the TPA launched a lawsuit against the Community Air

Community Air

Community Air is a non-profit resident association in the city of Toronto, Canada that seeks to have the Toronto Island Airport) shut down and its lands converted to park land. The association is concerned about noise, pollution and safety aspects of the airport's operation...

community group for $3.4 million CAD. The lawsuit claimed that the group and its directors were "zealous and unbalanced" in their waterfront advocacy. TPA CEO Lisa Raitt stated in the media that: "We are not going to allow untruths and personal attacks to go unchallenged". The suit demanded that each pay $500,000 in damages for defamation, $250,000 in aggravated damages and another $100,000 in punitive damages to the port authority, its president Lisa Raitt and two others. "We really view this as being a 'SLAPP suit' and that's a type of lawsuit that is carried out against community groups and individuals to prevent them from speaking their minds about issues of public importance," said Community Air's lawyer Louis Sokolov in conversation with CBC reporters. According to the National Post

National Post

The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...

, the complaint stemmed from a Community Air memo sent to then Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon, describing the TPA as a "painful thorn in the side of the city". Cannon later initiated the Tassé review of the TPA.

In May, 2007, the lawsuit was settled out of court. Community Air agreed to retract their statements and apologize. A spokesperson for Community Air said that it hoped that would foster a better relationship with the TPA. Since the settlement, Community Air continues to criticize the agency.

2008 TPA vs City of Toronto Lawsuit

In 2008, the TPA launched a lawsuit against the City of Toronto to prevent a 'no-stopping' bylaw for the roadway in front of the ferry dock. The City intends to build a sidewalk for a nearby school, according to Councillor Adam Vaughan. Lawyers for the TPA and Porter Airlines characterized the bylaw as "guerilla tactics" to disrupt the Airport's operations. In a December 23, 2008 Ontario Superior Court decision a Judge dismissed the City's arguments as "unreasonable" and directed the City to immediately approve the TPA's early 2006 request to perform basic work to the TPA’s Bathurst Street lot.

Political positions on the Port Authority

The various political positions on the future of the Port Authority and the island airport:

Conservative Party of Canada — Federal Party position Conservative Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...

The Party, which has had no members elected in Toronto in over a decade, is a big supporter of the TPA and the operation of Porter Airlines. In the 2006 federal election, Steven Harper chose not to comment on the airport expansion, however, after the election, the government appointed several Tory party members to the Board. In December 2008 and January 2009, the Party nominated two further Party members to the TPA board after the City of Toronto named its representative to the TPA board. Former TPA CEO Lisa Raitt has moved on to become the MP for Halton Region for the Conservative Party, and was named Natural Resources Minister. In September 2009, Transport Minister John Baird named a Party fund-raiser to the board.

Liberal Party of Canada — Federal Party position

The TPA was created while the Liberal Party

Liberal Party of Canada

was in power (1999). Several Toronto Liberal MPs were strong supporters of the TPA including Dennis Mills

Dennis Mills

Dennis Joseph Mills is a Canadian businessman and former politician. He was a Liberal Member of Parliament for the riding of Toronto-Danforth in the east-end of downtown Toronto. He now sits on the board of directors of Magna International....

, Tony Ianno

Tony Ianno

Tony Ianno, PC is a businessman and a former Canadian politician. He served as a Liberal Party of Canada MP representing Trinity-Spadina and Minister of Families and Caregivers .-Personal life:...

and David Collenette

David Collenette

. Under Prime Minister Paul Martin

Paul Martin

Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....

, the Liberals canceled construction of the airport bridge at the request of City Council after the 2003 municipal election. This marked the second time that a Liberal Prime Minister cancelled a link to the airport. In the 1930s, the Liberals were the government in power that cancelled a tunnel linking the airport. In the 2006 federal election, several local Liberal MPs went on the record as opposing the airport expansion. The Liberals publicly criticized the appointment of Tory fundraiser Robert Poirier to the TPA Board as a 'patronage appointment.'

New Democratic Party — Federal Party position

The NDP

New Democratic Party

The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

wants the agency shut down. Toronto Member of Parliament Olivia Chow

Olivia Chow

, is the prime critic of the TPA and the airport expansion. Chow, whose riding includes the airport, wants control of the port passed to the city and has introduced a private member's bill to do so. Federal party leader Jack Layton

Jack Layton

, who represents a nearby riding, has stated that he wants the Auditor-General to investigate the settlement surrounding the failed airport bridge.

Mayor David Miller

The former mayor of Toronto, David Miller

David Miller (Canadian politician)

won his 2003 election partly on the campaign pledge to prevent "airport expansion" - the construction of a bridge connecting the airport to the mainland. Miller has stated publicly that he wants Toronto to regain control over the Port Authority: "I've never believed we needed a port authority," and "It doesn't really perform any function. Shipping is not at a level that it needs it." When discussing the creation of a new airline the mayor was quoted as saying: "This is a federal agency that is under federal control that has never respected the wishes of the people of the City of Toronto, and it's the federal government that will have to bring it to heel." Miller has publicly stated his opposition to the proposed pedestrian tunnel to the airport.

Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW) position

The labour union

Canadian Auto Workers

The Canadian Auto Workers is one of Canada's largest and highest profile social unions. While rooted in Ontario's large auto plants of Windsor, Brampton, Oakville, St...

supports the expansion of flights at the Island Airport and appeared at the press conference to announce the start up of Porter Airlines' and its initial order of planes. The union represents employees of the Toronto Bombardier

Bombardier Aerospace

Bombardier Aerospace is a division of Bombardier Inc. and is the third-largest airplane manufacturer in the world. It is headquartered in Dorval, Quebec, Canada.- History :...

aircraft factory, which builds the Q400 planes used by Porter Airlines.

Toronto Board of Trade

The Board of Trade produced a report in 2006 appealing to the City and to the TPA to start working together, citing an estimated positive economic impact of over $135 million from the Airport. To quote Glen Stone, a Board of Trade spokesman:

“There are two facts that are inescapable: Number one, there is an airport on the island. Number two, just a few hundred metres away there is a city. Neither of them are about to go away. So the two sides can continue fighting and feuding or they can realize that they can benefit from each other through a bit of compromise and co-operation. Both sides could be winners instead of dragging each other down.”

Among the recommendations were increasing the number of Toronto-appointed board members, operating the airport without any subsidies and resolving any back tax disputes. The TPA welcomed the report, but Mayor Miller noted that the plan "falls short of identifying a fundamental change that needs to be made."

Toronto City Council

Prior to the formation of the TPA, City Council voted twice in favour of a bridge to the airport. On the TPA, Council was in favour of bringing the Port under the city's umbrella. When the TPA sued the city, City Council voted again to support the bridge. However, after the retirement of former Mayor Mel Lastman

Mel Lastman

, who supported the expansion of the Airport, the Council changed. The Council elected in 2003 along with Mayor Miller, voted to cancel the bridge project. A municipal election was held in 2006 and a majority of councilors supporting Mayor Miller were elected. After Trinity-Spadina Councillor Olivia Chow moved to federal politics, Adam Vaughan was elected in her place to Council, and he is a vocal opponent of Airport expansion.

Local Community Opposition

As of 2009, local community associations and the main opposition group "Community Air" remain opposed to the Island Airport. When Porter Airlines first started flights, protests and boycotts were called for, however the actual amount of active protest has died down. As recently as April 24, 2009, the vice-chair of Community Air stated "The fight to shutter the airport is far from over."

Overall Toronto residents

In 2009, a TPA-sponsored poll showed that 58% of Toronto residents supported the TPA remaining independent.

External links

About the TPA:

Toronto Port Authority official web site
Canada Gazette - TPA Letters Patent
Infosource.gc.ca - About the organization and mandate of the TPA (Official Federal Government website)

Related or relevant organizations:

Community Air Community group opposed to TPA
Transport 2000 Canada Sustainable Transport advocacy group
Association of Canadian Port Authorities
Toronto Economic Development Corporation (TEDCO)

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Operations

Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport

Port of Toronto

Other facilities

Governance

Senior management

Board of directors

Financial status

Creation

2001–2004 Lands dispute and airport bridge plan

2003-2006: Ferry to Rochester

2006 Federal review

2006-present: Launch of Porter and profitability

Controversies

2009 Board of Directors dispute

Conflict of interest probe

2008–09 Board Appointments

Lobbying efforts

Breaches of Landing Curfew Times

Dispute over payments in lieu of taxes to the City of Toronto

Air Canada Jazz vs. TPA and Porter

2006 TPA vs. Community Air lawsuit

2008 TPA vs City of Toronto Lawsuit

Political positions on the Port Authority

See also

External links