E
Ed007Toronto
Guest
Interesting.
Vaughan on stealth mission in fight against island airport
JOHN BARBER
E-mail John Barber
The last time I discussed the island airport with Adam Vaughan, his vehemence almost shocked me. We were standing together on the crumbling dock wall at the foot of Bathurst Street, watching the new airport ferry spin helplessly down the Western Gap on its maiden voyage. The would-be politician was howling vicious insults at the rattled skipper and the red-faced dignitaries who scowled down upon us, stung by the heckling and well aware of its origin. If the scene wasn't such a comedy, I would have retreated to a neutral corner.
There was nothing much neutral about Mr. Vaughan as a journalist, and he abandoned all pretence of it when he ran for council. On the hustings, he attacked the Miller administration for accommodating airport expansion, despite its professed opposition to the project, and advocated all-out municipal harassment of the facility.
But the howls subsided once he won a seat in the giant clam, the new councillor adopting the guise of a sober statesman. It has proven so effective that hardly anybody noticed his opening shot this week in the promised guerrilla campaign against the airport.
Less obvious but far more effective than shouting from the sidelines, Mr. Vaughan's gambit was a seemingly innocuous request for staff to report on the feasibility of a pedestrian-friendly redesign of Bathurst Street south of Queens Quay West. Some of his fellow members on the Toronto and East York community council knew what he was up to, others didn't. But all voted in favour.
That's more than enough votes to complete the job of making life miserable for the airport, its tenants and customers by narrowing the street and building a new sidewalk to replace queuing lanes for the ferry. Mr. Vaughan (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) and his fellow conspirators kept quiet about their plans until council enacted a long-awaited scheme to delegate power over local roads to community councils, which it did last week. Under the new rules, 10 downtowners now enjoy final say over the island airport -- and they plan to use it.
"One of the delegated rights to community councils is to allow them to protect their neighbourhoods," Mr. Vaughan said. "This is the first time since the bridge was stopped that this city has moved in a public way to defend that neighbourhood -- and I'm very proud to have done it."
The Toronto Port Authority, tipped off by city staff, has already begun to howl about the new plans, according to Mr. Vaughan. But in his view, the needs of local residents, the public school and community centre are just as important as those of the port authoritarians. "How they choose to use the land they leased from the city is their business," he said. "How the city configures its road is our business. They're only tenant down there."
Lest anybody interpret this as petty harassment of a legitimate business, fellow rookie Councillor Gord Perks is eager to explain its sound ideological underpinnings. Road narrowing, he says, is now a proven technique for reducing car use. Rather than creating more congestion, it causes "traffic evaporation," says Mr. Perks (Ward 14, Parkdale-High Park).
And if the airport evaporates along with the traffic that feeds it, so much the better. Air travel causes global warming and much of it is unnecessary, according to Mr. Perks -- especially short hauls of the type that originate at the island airport.
"I don't know why anybody should ever fly to Ottawa," he said.
Choking off Bathurst Street is only one of the schemes Mr. Vaughan has planned in defence of his neighbourhood, and a large majority of his community council colleagues are willing to follow along. Even Councillor Case Ootes (Ward 29, Toronto-Danforth), a pro-airport stalwart, voted in favour of the initial report this week.
Meanwhile, local skies remain mercifully free of the ominous Luftwaffe that once darkened the campaign posters of mayoral candidate David Miller. So far, Porter Airlines has dramatically failed in its ambition to be a nuisance -- raising the question of whether or not it will survive long enough to be properly harassed.
jbarber@globeandmail.com
Vaughan on stealth mission in fight against island airport
JOHN BARBER
E-mail John Barber
The last time I discussed the island airport with Adam Vaughan, his vehemence almost shocked me. We were standing together on the crumbling dock wall at the foot of Bathurst Street, watching the new airport ferry spin helplessly down the Western Gap on its maiden voyage. The would-be politician was howling vicious insults at the rattled skipper and the red-faced dignitaries who scowled down upon us, stung by the heckling and well aware of its origin. If the scene wasn't such a comedy, I would have retreated to a neutral corner.
There was nothing much neutral about Mr. Vaughan as a journalist, and he abandoned all pretence of it when he ran for council. On the hustings, he attacked the Miller administration for accommodating airport expansion, despite its professed opposition to the project, and advocated all-out municipal harassment of the facility.
But the howls subsided once he won a seat in the giant clam, the new councillor adopting the guise of a sober statesman. It has proven so effective that hardly anybody noticed his opening shot this week in the promised guerrilla campaign against the airport.
Less obvious but far more effective than shouting from the sidelines, Mr. Vaughan's gambit was a seemingly innocuous request for staff to report on the feasibility of a pedestrian-friendly redesign of Bathurst Street south of Queens Quay West. Some of his fellow members on the Toronto and East York community council knew what he was up to, others didn't. But all voted in favour.
That's more than enough votes to complete the job of making life miserable for the airport, its tenants and customers by narrowing the street and building a new sidewalk to replace queuing lanes for the ferry. Mr. Vaughan (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) and his fellow conspirators kept quiet about their plans until council enacted a long-awaited scheme to delegate power over local roads to community councils, which it did last week. Under the new rules, 10 downtowners now enjoy final say over the island airport -- and they plan to use it.
"One of the delegated rights to community councils is to allow them to protect their neighbourhoods," Mr. Vaughan said. "This is the first time since the bridge was stopped that this city has moved in a public way to defend that neighbourhood -- and I'm very proud to have done it."
The Toronto Port Authority, tipped off by city staff, has already begun to howl about the new plans, according to Mr. Vaughan. But in his view, the needs of local residents, the public school and community centre are just as important as those of the port authoritarians. "How they choose to use the land they leased from the city is their business," he said. "How the city configures its road is our business. They're only tenant down there."
Lest anybody interpret this as petty harassment of a legitimate business, fellow rookie Councillor Gord Perks is eager to explain its sound ideological underpinnings. Road narrowing, he says, is now a proven technique for reducing car use. Rather than creating more congestion, it causes "traffic evaporation," says Mr. Perks (Ward 14, Parkdale-High Park).
And if the airport evaporates along with the traffic that feeds it, so much the better. Air travel causes global warming and much of it is unnecessary, according to Mr. Perks -- especially short hauls of the type that originate at the island airport.
"I don't know why anybody should ever fly to Ottawa," he said.
Choking off Bathurst Street is only one of the schemes Mr. Vaughan has planned in defence of his neighbourhood, and a large majority of his community council colleagues are willing to follow along. Even Councillor Case Ootes (Ward 29, Toronto-Danforth), a pro-airport stalwart, voted in favour of the initial report this week.
Meanwhile, local skies remain mercifully free of the ominous Luftwaffe that once darkened the campaign posters of mayoral candidate David Miller. So far, Porter Airlines has dramatically failed in its ambition to be a nuisance -- raising the question of whether or not it will survive long enough to be properly harassed.
jbarber@globeandmail.com
