John Barber convinces Torstar to give him new platform for his tired tall tales
It has been a few years since I’ve written about a discredited former Globe and Mail columnist by the name of John Barber (see prior post “Barber’s Blazing Beretta” Jan 28-09). The reason being, at least from the perspective of an outsider, was that the Globe’s management finally got tired of his biased invective and took away his municipal column several years ago — leaving him with no platform to pursue his decade-long vendetta against Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and its governing body, PortsToronto.
In a strange twist of fate, Mr. Barber has found a new vehicle for his specious airport tales: The Toronto Daily Star. Apparently, the Star knew nothing about the fact that Mr. Barber’s former employers had to deal with a defamation action in relation to his coverage of the airport and its governing body, in addition to the same kind of erroneous material that he is now peddling via last weekend’s Star. And while his most recent Star column falls under an “opinion/commentary” headline, one would assume that the Star would be interested in i) accuracy, and ii) avoiding the appearance that it is aiding a Globe and Mail castoff in his pursuit of a long-standing vendetta.
A couple of my Twitter followers asked for a description of Mr. Barber’s most recent falsehoods, and I’m only too happy to oblige:
Mr. Barber’s claim:
“three century-old ferries so decrepit federal authorities have repeatedly threatened to decommission them in the name of public safety — and probably should. (Instead, Transport Canada has settled on the crude expedient of cutting the antique fleet’s permitted passenger loads, presumably to limit losses from the anticipated disaster.)”
Mr. Barber declines to mention that the ferries in question are owned and operated by the City of Toronto.
Barber claim:
“handsomely subsidized island airport”
Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is not subsidized and receives no funding from any level of government. PortsToronto, as owner and operator of Billy Bishop Airport, receives no Federal grants (by law) and is entirely financially self-sufficient. Barber knows all of this as a result of his earlier litigation experience. In addition, PortsToronto paid $2.4 million in gross royalty charges to the Federal government for 2014, and an additional $2.9 million in Payments In Lieu Of Taxes to the City of Toronto. Rather than receive a “subsidy,” as Mr. Barber claims, PortsToronto and Billy Bishop Airport are a direct net contributor to the public purse.
Barber claim:
“…their almost-new ferry soon to be replaced by a brand-new pedestrian tunnel built by a public authority for more than $80 million.”
The Marilyn Bell I ferry to Billy Bishop Airport, acquired in 2009 (without taxpayer dollars), is not being “replaced” by the pedestrian tunnel, given that the airport will still need to provide regular ferry access for Ornge ambulances, as well as catering, fuel and delivery trucks, for example. The new tunnel is required to improve the passenger experience, and became warranted after passenger traffic increased from ~25,000 passengers per annum a few years ago to more than 2 million. Modest local traffic surges will also be moderated, which is an added bonus.
Moreover, PortsToronto financed the $82.5 million pedestrian tunnel under a Public-Private Partnership model, financed completely by Airport Improvement Fees collected from Billy Bishop Airport passengers. The use of the “public authority” language, when combined with the earlier “handsomely subsidized” claim, leaves readers with the impression that Federal taxpayers are subsidizing the construction of the tunnel. To be clear, there are no taxpayer dollars involved in the construction or maintenance of the tunnel. This is irrefutable.
In fact, it is Billy Bishop Airport passengers who subsidized the City of Toronto when PortsToronto agreed that new city water and sewer mains could be combined with the tunnel project, saving City taxpayers $10 million on their own, previously-announced utility main upgrade project (which dated to the era of former Mayor David Miller).
Barber claim:
“Or maybe the airport will have already gone bust by then, and Torontonians will finally realize they don’t need any ferries to reclaim this precious stolen property.”
Billy Bishop Airport was built on land that was largely a silty swamp in the early 1930s, reclaimed from Toronto Harbour by a predecessor agency to PortsToronto. It was “stolen” from no one, as in evidenced by photographs taken at the time.
I’ve written to the Star’s public editor, Kathy English. One can only hope that she will put a stop to Mr. Barber, at least on this topic, once and for all.
MRM
(disclosure – this blog, as always, is an Opinion Piece, reflecting a personal view, and in no way represents the views of PortsToronto, its Board/Staff or the federal government)
“Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is not subsidized and receives no funding from any level of government.” Really.
You know better.
Where to start?
Nominal rent for exceedingly valuable land from the City – three parcels – a huge piece of the Airport lands, the Stadium Road parking lots, and the Eireann Quay queuing lanes. Leases run until 2033, or earlier, if the Island Airport is closed.
The rest of the Airport lands were GIVEN to Ports Toronto by the federal government.
Failing to pay its fair share of property taxes to the City – the sums are huge: at fair market value assessment, which every other taxpayer pays, 2012 taxes payable were $4,332,690. The difference between taxes payable and the sum paid by Ports Toronto is over $2.5 million dollars for ONE YEAR. A huge subsidy of the Airport by the people of Toronto, no?
There’s lots more, but you get the idea.
Those subsidies are passed directly on to Porter, as it only pays Ports Toronto’s net Airport costs after all other Airport revenue is deducted. Who made that sweetheart deal in 2010? You did, of course. How did the public interest get served by that deal? We’ve asked you before, but you’ve not replied. Time you did.
Mr. Iler
Thanks for stopping by, even if it to leave behind a trail of erroneous information. The MPAC assessment you cite was not accepted by the independent Federal PILT advisory panel, which is why City Staff recommended that a different number be paid — the one which PortToronto is gladly paying.
http://www.portstoronto.com/About-TPA/Media-Room/Press-Releases/New-Independent-Federal-Dispute-Advisory-Panel-Req.aspx
What is the FMV for the airport? As a condo development or manufacturing plant? That’s what MPAC said, although you and the minority of Councillors who want to close BBTCA have never admitted that you think BBTCA should pay condo-level taxes, even though you’d never — in a million years — approve the construction of a condo property in place of BBTCA.
That background is here:
http://www.markmcqueen.ca/2013/04/04/you-cant-have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too-unless-youre-on-toronto-city-council/#axzz3hYxDKEPT
Porter pays FMV for its leases, as well as a 25% premium on all airport costs — so you are quite wrong to say Porter “only pays PT’s net airport costs after all other Airport revenue is deducted.” And Porter’s airport lease was executed in 2005/06, not 2010, well before I joined the PT Board.
You already knew that, but you’d never let the facts get in the way of your animus, now would you?
MRM
MRM disclosure is laughable as he is the Head Chair of PT. Although not specifically provable; he and Deluce are likely the Puppet Masters of so-called Porter ¨Proposal for Expansion & Jets. MRM states PortsToronto paid $2.4 million in gross royalty charges to the Federal government for 2014, and an additional $2.9 million in Payments In Lieu Of Taxes (PILT)to the City of Toronto. PILTS for Canadian Airports are really tax reductions, aiding airports like BBTCA; resulting in less money to the City of Toronto. PT is made up of 4 business parts (1)Port Operations – $5.9+ million in revenue, 2) Outer Harbour Marina – $3.2+ million in revenue, 3) Property Rental & Other – $1.3+ million revenue and 4) BBTCA in 2014 produced $20.8+ million revenue plus an additional $18.7 million in Airport Improvement Fees (AIF).
BBTCA tabulated 2,428,282 total commercial passengers in 2014.
PortsToronto paid $2.4 million in gross royalty charges to the Federal government for 2014, and an additional $2.9 million in Payments In Lieu Of Taxes to the City of Toronto
Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is not subsidized and receives no funding from any level of government. PortsToronto, as owner and operator of Billy Bishop Airport, receives no Federal grants (by law) and is entirely financially self-sufficient. Barber knows all of this as a result of his earlier litigation experience. In addition, PortsToronto paid $2.4 million in gross royalty charges to the Federal government for 2014, and an additional $2.9 million in Payments In Lieu Of Taxes to the City of Toronto.
Would not one think with the revenues plus AIF as recorded in 2014, TP would pay more than $5.3 million in taxes.
http://tpa.78beta.com/media/TPASiteAssets/reports/2014-annual-report_en.pdf
Wayne with the cane