Advisory: Toronto Residents Rally Against Jets & Proposed Island Airport Expansion

Creative protest art event & waterfront march planned as residents demand federal action to stop commercial jets

Toronto | Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and the traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat - A community movement is gaining momentum across Toronto as residents mobilize to stop a proposal to massively expand the Toronto Island Airport to allow for commercial jets.

Residents say the costs are too high - noise and air pollution, gridlocked traffic, thousands of new homes cancelled, and the irreversible destruction of the waterfront and Toronto Islands. Now they're demanding Toronto's MPs take a stand and say no to jets and this dangerous, needless expansion.

WHO: NoJetsTO and Environmental Defence, along with hundreds of Toronto residents who are against jets and the proposed Island Airport expansion.

Spokespeople Norm Di Pasquale, NoJetsTO Program Manager, and Ashley Wallis, Associate Director, Environmental Defence, are available for interviews.

WHAT: Two public events protesting the proposed Toronto Island Airport expansion to allow commercial jets.

Event 1: Save Our Waterfront: Community Art & Action Gathering
Thursday, July 23 / 33 Cecil Street, Environmental Defence Parking Lot / 6-8 p.m. - Creative art action where community members paint protest messages on lifejackets.

Event 2: Save Our Waterfront Rally & March
Sunday, July 26 / Harbour Square Park to Union Station to HTO Park / 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. - Large-scale march accompanied by a flotilla of boats on the water demanding federal action to stop the expansion. Route and full event details here.

WHY: Commercial jets over Toronto's waterfront mean noise and air pollution, debilitating traffic, thousands of new homes cancelled and the waterfront destroyed. Residents are demanding that their MPs say no. Over 6,000 lawn signs have been distributed across Toronto as community opposition grows. See more public opposition here, as well as a video posted by Canadian singer-songwriter Feist here.

For more information on the NoJetsTO movement and what's at risk, please visit: NoJetsTO.com

ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.

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For more information or to request an interview, please contact:

Erinn Steringa, Environmental Defence, [email protected]