dinchie

craft beer lover, foodie, art, film, travel & sport ⚽️🇨🇦 - home is Toronto (that’s not my dog)

[dinchie @DonnaInch]

@Fed_Up_GenXer @ColinDMello Another airport IN the east (Ajax, Pickering…) would make a lot more sense than the cost and negative effects of filling in the lake to fly jets downtown - not to mention the additional traffic congestion which would negate any potential convenience

[Jessica Bell @JessicaBellTO]

The Minister of Transportation has just said the Billy Bishop Airport expansion would generate $8.5 billion in economic benefit – with ZERO evidence presented to back up this claim.

⁉️ Did they consider health impacts? 
⁉️ Loss of local business activity?
⁉️ Impact on local housing construction?

I think the government simply pulled this number out of a hat.

[dinchie @DonnaInch]

@radiogirl985 @MarkJCarney @EvanLSolomon This is a BIG dealbreaker for any Toronto support if @fordnation is allowed to continue bulldozing our waterfront at exorbitant financial and environmental cost.

We’ve gone WAY past acceptable with this Ontario government who (again) ran on no public platform

[dinchie @DonnaInch]

@TTCnotices What about the event at BMO Field? How do we get to ⚽️ (poor planning 🙁)

[Neil Pasricha @NeilPasricha]

Dear Prime Minister Mark Carney (@markjcarney),

I was on the Toronto Ferry last year staring at our majestic waterfront.

I saw paddlers, kayakers, dragon boaters, sailors, windsurfers, fishers, paddleboarders, water taxis, and cruisers all sharing the space in harmony.

When we docked at Hanlan’s Point on the Toronto Islands I was surrounded by hikers, joggers, cyclists, birders, picnickers, swimmers, photographers, beachgoers, frisbee golfers, naturalists, and thousands of tourists and locals enjoying this lush ecological paradise surrounded by our sparkling freshwater lake.

Please don’t destroy this by paving Lake Ontario.

Three weeks ago Ontario Premier Doug Ford (@fordnation) announced he will "seize" Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport (YTZ) in order to expand runways into Lake Ontario (1), bring in jets against the legal contracts governing the airport (2), and nix 14,000 mixed-use homes slated to go up on the shore (which taxpayers have already spent $1.4B developing). (3,4)

Although this decision is not his to make — Billy Bishop is governed by the City of Toronto and the federal government (5) — Premier Ford says he will overrule the City to "bring in jets one way or another." (6,7)

Premier Ford says he has the "full support" of your federal government to do this. (8)

Prime Minister Carney:

It is not too late.

Please say no to expanding Billy Bishop airport into the lake.

We don’t need this, we don’t want this, and we can’t afford this.

We don’t need this.

We can already go anywhere we want to go.

I live right in downtown Toronto.

I can be anywhere I want in the world, tomorrow.

I can walk to bus, subway, streetcar, and UP express stations from my house and I fly 40x per year.

In the past year I have been to over 35 airports on 3 continents and YYZ is one of the absolute best. In fact, in the past month it has won "Best Airport Staff in North America" (9), been ranked 4th in all of the Americas in efficiency (out of 50 airports) (10), and won Best Large Airport on the entire continent (an award it's won eight times in nine years.) (11)

Right this second, checking Uber, I can get from my house by car to Toronto’s Pearson International Airport (YYZ) in 21 mins and to Toronto’s Billy Bishop Island Airport (YTZ) in 14 mins.

Right this second, if someone at Union Station wanted to get to YYZ on public transit it would take 28 minutes (UP Express) and to YTZ would take 22 minutes (TTC streetcar).

We are talking about a 6 minute time savings here.

If we want to serve southwestern Ontario’s population with expanded jet service we simply need to use the 7000m of existing, high-capacity, under-utilized jet runways within 2 hours of Toronto at Hamilton (@flyYHM ), Waterloo (@flyYKF), and London (@flyYXU) versus entertaining a "special economic zone" to force a jet-strip into the most environmentally sensitive and densely populated waterfront in the country.

We don’t want this.

This tiny speck of ecological paradise provides critical respite from our dense and urban concrete jungle and is vital for mental health, community, and happiness.

Over 400 peer-reviewed studies show urban forests and parks mitigate depression and anxiety and enhance overall mental well-being. (12)

I know you agree because four days ago on March 31, 2026 you announced your "Force of Nature" strategy with the vision of "protecting, restoring, and valuing nature." This wonderful program declares a federal investment of $3.8 billion dollars into "protecting critical habitats and aligning industrial strategies with biodiversity conservation." (13, 14, 15)

Also, I looked into the runway expansion into the lake that Premier Ford has promised.

Right now the shortest jet runway in Canada is 1832m (YHM Hamilton, ON) and the shortest jet runway in the world is 1508m (LCY London City Airport, UK). There are also new Canadian Aviation Regulations (RESA) stating all runways need to add 150m on each end for safety. (16, 17, 18)

Today the Billy Bishop runway is 1216m. (19)

Even the most conservative assumption — building the shortest jet runway in the entire world! — still requires a minimum of 600m more runway to land jets.

Here is a current aerial view of Billy Bishop Airport. (Photo 1 / attached)

Here is an aerial view of Billy Bishop Airport with the smallest possible runway extension of 600m added. (Photo 2 / attached)

(Of course this photo doesn’t include additional parking, hangers, gates, aprons, tarmacs, fueling stations, de-icing stations, blast fences, control towers, baggage carousels, taxi pickups … )

We can’t afford this.

Premier Ford was first elected in 2018 as the right wing candidate (PC) with 40.5% of the vote (left wing side of NDP and Liberal was 53.2%) and campaigned as a fiscal conservative. (FN) He attacked the Liberals for their $6.7B deficit and vowed a "return to balanced budgets" that would "begin in 2019." (20, 21)

Since then Premier Ford has won two more elections — with a nearly identical right / left vote split and record lows in voter turnout — and has now presided over 8 budgets. (22, 23)

In order from 2019 to 2026 those eight budgets have been for *deficits* of $8.7B, $16.4B, $13.5B, $5.9B, $5.6, $1.1B, $12.3B, and, most recently, just announced last week on March 26, 2026, coming in at a 77% increase on his own 2025 forecasts, $13.8B. (24, 25)

Since Premier Ford was elected he has *increased* Ontario’s debt from $338B to $485B. Ontario now pays $17.2B a year … just in interest payments. (26, 27, 28)

Notably, Premier Ford’s most recent $13.8B deficit budget does not include any money for the projected $1-2B cost of expanding Billy Bishop airport.

(Prime Minister, you and Premier Ford are both 61 and have a seemingly warm relationship despite wildly different education and business paths. (29, 30, 31, 32) Might you have time for some evening finance tutorials?)

Prime Minister Carney:

We don’t need this, we don’t want this, we can’t afford this.

Please say no to this expansion plan.

Please allow the legal agreements governing the airport to remain in the hands of those who legally own it — the City of Toronto and the federal government — and not with Premier Ford’s provincial government who is attempting to autocratically rule something in which it has no stake.

At the Junos six days ago on March 29, 2026 you praised 82-year-old @jonimitchell and justifiably called her "one of the greatest artists of all time." (33)

Joni warned us about "paving paradise to put up a parking lot" and now that’s exactly what Premier Ford is proposing we do.

The Toronto Harbour, Toronto Harbourfront, and Toronto Islands are a crown jewel for the functioning of our great city, our great province, and our great country.

Would New York City pave over Central Park?

Would Paris put runways on the Seine?

We absolutely should not pave the paradise of Lake Ontario to put up runways and parking lots we don’t need, don’t want, and can’t afford.

It's not too late.

Please say no.

Thank you,

Neil Pasricha

//

(1) https://t.co/lgQ5WdNcwV
https://t.co/A74NIBBFil
(2) https://t.co/B3ujtqHAxs
(3) https://t.co/Heig4pdd1T
(4) https://t.co/iQuAopsifd
(5) https://t.co/Daj6zWY9mC
(6) https://t.co/AgBbiwy2R9
(7) https://t.co/QFNa94c4sn
https://t.co/3O9To68MN1
https://t.co/QFNa94c4sn
(8) https://t.co/3O9To68MN1
(9) https://t.co/I3kBjq6thM
(10) https://t.co/kgRl5vJV8W
(11) https://t.co/8stbfkcmcm
(12) https://t.co/VJiYAGJ9JJ
(13) https://t.co/7ZiPrHlVxa
(14) https://t.co/dqg5ldemUZ
(15) https://t.co/ytJ0iv8ymB
(16) https://t.co/jwQm4JzTUN
(17) https://t.co/LMheI43DKb
https://t.co/8YX8IF1gqi
(18) https://t.co/Ci7qMEMpMw
(19) https://t.co/KmhPvr48Ir
(20) https://t.co/PCk3ah5cR0
(21) https://t.co/ZuviVaCKVF
(22) https://t.co/xSk5kvX4Ym
(23) https://t.co/DwJHjj05BY
(24) https://t.co/JVmlSC4Y1z
(25) https://t.co/NXBsJyGS8g
(26) https://t.co/e2kIIzuMsy
(27) https://t.co/jKAUVglOoB
(28) https://t.co/08PLVXXUJI
(29) https://t.co/doLO2tbShf
(30) https://t.co/r98N6I0ahT
(31) https://t.co/LcMIgaigwB
(32) https://t.co/y0wFa9L42e
(33) https://t.co/HvMafmRLtK
//

CC: Minister of Transport @SteveMcKinnon, Minister of Environment @JulieDabrusin, Mayor of Toronto @OliviaChow, MP @RunChiNguyenRun, MP @J_Maloney, MP @JulieDzerowicz, MP @Coteau, MP @Rob_Oliphant, MP @Vgasparro, MP @Yvan_Baker, MP @Jzerucelli, Ontario Minister of Transportation @PrabSarkaria, Ontario Minister of Infrastructure @KingaSurmaMPP, @PortsToronto, MPP @MaritStiles, MPP @JessicaBellTO, MPP @ChrisGlover, Councillor @BravoDavenport, Councillor @DianneSaxxe, Candidate @Massey_Toronto, @Nieuport, @JenniferQuinnTO, @Envirodefense, @BirdsCanada, @NoJetsTo, @CycleTO, @TheGlobeAndMail, @TorontoStar, @CBCToronto, @TheCurrentCBC, @BlogTO

[Dan Seljak @anotherglassbox]

Honestly thought neighbourhood retail was on its last legs but it turns out people really pay attention to deputations, both for and against. Here’s @arkellsmusic going off on the infamous anti-Badiali’s one.

[Dan Seljak @anotherglassbox]

You used to be able to do this in Toronto; I've taken photos to prove it. But now you can't. So they're voting on it in commitee tomorrow. Sign the petition: https://t.co/IH381gQi2W

[dinchie @DonnaInch]

@derekkerton A lot of fire trucks going by on King St downtown

[Nina Deeb @deeb_nina]

Taxpayers will not generate returns of $60 million a year on the Ontario Place garage.Rates are already set. We will likely lose money.We have penalty clauses & Therme controls the parking rates ⁦@ONPlace4All⁩ ⁦@chrisglover⁩ @normsworld⁩ ⁦@TDotResident⁩

[Richard Southern @RichardCityNews]

NEW - PC leader Doug Ford has previously announced his intention to go ahead with his plan to build a tunnel under the 401, but hasn’t announced what it would cost. Today under requesting from @CBCQueensPark Ford suggested he would be willing to spend $60 billion taxpayer dollars

[Univrsle @univrsle]

People in Toronto are pissed (actually it's an understatement, there aren't words for it)

But the people who should be MORE pissed? Anyone else in Ontario who has to accept that this is about a billion dollars in spending while your hospitals are closing #onpoli #ontario

[dinchie @DonnaInch]

Ditto

[Karen Piper @PiperK]

I'm officially a @taylorswift13 fan now. 🔥
Never thought that would happen.

[Ontario Place for All © @ONPlace4All]

The 50 year old Ontario run Science Centre & Ontario Place have fallen into disrepair thru neglect, but city run Toronto Zoo & Federally run CN Tower are marking their 50th birthdays not with shutdowns & demolitions, but with reinvestment.
https://t.co/H5tC2IWC3H #topoli #onpoli

[dinchie @DonnaInch]

@Sportsnet Too bad cheering at the bar came a minute before we saw the goal via your app @Sportsnet (didn’t have the problem with Euros… 🤔)

[dinchie @DonnaInch]

@Sportsnet Hey @sportsnet - watching on big screen in Distillery but your app has the game over half a minute delayed from the bar next door (makes for a pretty anticlimactic viewing ☹️)

[CTV Your Morning @YourMorning]

This is exciting! We are teaming up with Niagara Parks to give away the ultimate Niagara prize pack. Enter for your chance to win a one night stay at the Howard Johnson Plaza by Wyndham by the Falls, dinner at the Table Rock Bistro + Wine Bar & 4 Niagara Parks Adventure Plus passes. Repost and follow for a chance to win!

Rules and regs: https://t.co/EAGVZr6IV7
#contest #sponsored

[Led By Donkeys @ByDonkeys]

He’s a potent danger to democracies across the world. Watch our film about Rupert Murdoch

[Nick Knudsen 🇺🇸 @NickKnudsenUS]

Wow.

This video is truly eye-opening.

Take a couple minutes to watch this.

A mind-boggling visual representation of wealth inequality in America.

This sh*t ain’t workin’, folks. #TaxBillionaires #UnionsForAll

[dinchie @DonnaInch]

@Devin_Heroux We’re just down the street, but unfortunately @oddinto and I do not have a great history keeping plants alive 🪴🥀🍂

[Briahna Joy Gray @briebriejoy]

I’m so humbled by these young people. Worth listening to in its entirety.