By Mike Anderson
Any hope the federal government would stop the development of the controversial Baldwin East Aerodrome in Pefferlaw was dashed this month.
In a November 27 letter addressed to MP Scot Davidson, MPP Caroline Mulroney, Mayor Margaret Quirk, CGIFN Chief Donna Big Canoe, and Pefferlaw Area Residents (PAR) Advocacy Chair Karen Wolfe, Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said he would not grant their request to prohibit the development of the proposed aerodrome.
This gives the proponent, Sutton Airport Development Inc., the green light to proceed with construction, pending approvals from the Town of Georgina.
The Baldwin East Aerodrome, located at 7818 and 7486 Old Homestead Rd, will feature two paved, all-weather, lighted runways, a hangar and clubhouse, and access roads.
Mackinnon says that the proponent has already addressed all environmental concerns, which will be mitigated through existing federal, provincial, and municipal environmental laws, including the Town’s site alteration bylaw and the province’s on-site and excess soil management regulation.
“The federal aeronautics regime does not absolve a proponent from following valid provincial and municipal laws, so long as doing so does not have the effect of negatively impacting the viability or the operations of the proposed aerodrome,” Mackinnon stated in his letter.
Mackinnon also noted the project’s economic benefits and the shortage of suitable aerodromes for flight training in the Toronto region, given the closure of Buttonville Airport, which supported his decision.
According to the proponent’s final submission to Transport Canada, the new Aerodrome could contribute up to $5-10 million to the local economy and add 50-100 jobs once fully developed.
MP Scot Davidson, now the MP for New Tecumseth-Gwillimbury, is disappointed with the Minister’s decision.
Since 2021, Davidson has actively lobbied the Liberal Government, including five different Transport ministers, to reject the Baldwin East Aerodrome proposal.
“It is unacceptable that the Liberal government refuses to protect communities from individuals who use the pretence of building an aerodrome to dump fill,” Davidson said in a recent Facebook post.
“Parliament amended the Aeronautics Act in 2014 specifically to prevent this kind of abuse after the disaster at Greenbank, but those powers are meaningless if the government refuses to use them.”
Davidson says he will work with his colleagues, including York-Durham MP Jacob Mantle, to improve federal regulations governing aerodromes, so communities are adequately protected.
“This is not an aerodrome proposal. I don’t care what anyone says. The runways are clearly not long enough. And it’s in an area that has no water and sewers,” Davidson told the Post.
“I will continue the fight on this. I don’t represent Georgina anymore. But it’s a community where I live. So, it matters to me.”
While MP Jacob Mantle supports tightening up legislation, he also believes the Minister did not act in the public interest.
“The Minister’s letter was perfunctory and a slap in the face to those who have concerns about the validity of the project,” Mantle said.
“The Minister has all the power he needs right now to have made the decision that the Town requested, and he chose not to. The real issue here is that this is a fake proposal.”
Mayor Margaret Quirk was also hoping for a different outcome.
“As part of our continued advocacy, I met with the Minister in Ottawa in October and urged him to reconsider the proposal,” she told the Post.
“The Town remains deeply concerned about the environmental impacts on these lands and the surrounding area. Because aerodromes fall under federal jurisdiction, our authority is limited primarily to enforcing our Site Alteration Bylaw, particularly regarding the quality of fill imported to the site. We understand residents’ frustration and will continue to do everything we can within our jurisdiction.”
Karen Wolfe, who, together with Davidson, led the charge against the Baldwin East Aerodrome, was also disappointed.
“We’ve worked on this for four years now, and it’s impossible that they would come to this conclusion after all of the evidence that we’ve provided,” Wolfe said.
“It makes no sense because there’s another Baldwin aerodrome only three kilometres away. Also, dumping 1.3 million cubic meters of dirt onto 350 acres of environmentally sensitive farmland doesn’t make any sense either because of the risk to Lake Simcoe, the flora, the fauna, and certainly the habitat.”
Wolfe also questions the Minister’s belief that the proponents will follow municipal and provincial soil regulations.
“Giving proponents, who’ve been charged and convicted of dumping contaminated fill in other municipalities, another opportunity to pollute the environment definitely doesn’t make any sense,” she said.
“This is clearly an attempt by the proponents to sidestep regulations which restrict dumping excess soil.”
“Regulations would work for people who want to follow the law. But we’re working with people in this case who don’t follow the law, and they have proven it over and over again.”
Mayor Quirk confirmed the Town has not yet received a site alteration or entrance permit application from the proponents. However, Mauro Marchioni, president of Sutton Airport Development Inc., told the Post the project will move forward.
While Marchioni did not provide a start date for construction, he reiterated that the project will conform to existing regulations.
“The proponents will now commence preparations to initiate the work required to build out the aerodrome in conformity with the approved application and all applicable laws and legislation. This has always been their intention, and this was echoed in the Minister’s letter,” he said in an email to the Post.
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