My take-away from 4.5 hours at city hall

The committee meeting about Toronto Island jets was expected to continue for another 4 hours, but my bum was numb after only the 3 hour morning session and an hour and a half after the lunch break.
My discoveries:

• Council committee meetings are a VERY slow way to get information.
• Everybody, on every issue, spins the truth.
• Some councillors, left and right, are remarkably thick and inarticulate.
• Half the audience was Porter staff (self-identified by show of hands)
• Current Porter airplanes violate the Tripartite Agreement already
• Health issues around downtown jet traffic are serious.
• Porter CEO Deluce reminds me of Napoleon.
• Napoleon ended his days unhappily on a small island.
• Bird strikes on airplanes can be repaired with a rag. (Porter pilot)
• Deluce was evasive and unresponsive about plans to sell Porter.
• Porter employees seem genuinely loyal to their company.
• All pro-jetters have financial interests as motivators.
• Recreational use of the waterfront is a trivial side issue to Porter supporters.
• Local community centre and schools could become Porter parking space.
• Anti-jetters have valid quality of life, health and safety concerns.
• Porter has received tens of millions of taxpayer dollars already.
• Porter has made unrefundable deposits on CS100 jets. (Deluce)

My conclusion
There is no need for the City of Toronto to expand the Billy Bishop Airport. The need for Porter Airlines, however, is very real and I suspect that it will fail as a business without the expansion.
The best interests of the private airline company are not the same as the best interests of the city at large. Billy Bishop Airport should continue to serve us as a small regional airport and a place for emergency planes. Councillors should deliver a firm, unequivocal NO to Porter’s requests for runway extension and jet traffic.