Where do your candidates stand?

“We already have Pearson, Billy Bishop and Hamilton International airports within the GTA, two of which have significant room to grow. In this time of climate threat, our focus must be on reducing reliance on fossil fuel air transportation and building up zero-emission rail and other public transportation infrastructure. An airport brings with it intensified development, industry, warehouses, and major roadways for heavy transport. All this would mean the decimation of more of the regions’s rapidly diminishing prime agricultural lands. Situated on the doorstep of the Rouge National Urban Park, the North Pickering Federal Lands Lands constitute a critical part of our green belt and wetlands. I will work hard to ensure they remain so.”

“When the Conservatives announced this, they didn’t do their homework. They ignored key community concerns, and they are undermining the health and protection of Canada’s first national urban park. They did not outline what kind of economic development would be acceptable beside such a sensitive environmental area and failed to do the hard work of consulting local communities about what residents want for the land. New Democrats will work with the local community and consult all stakeholders in order to try and build consensus on the use of these lands.”