It’s time to release the Pickering Federal Lands

By Dave Pearce, Senior Forest Conservation Manager, Wildlands League

Half a century ago, Canada announced a new airport for the Toronto area. In the process, it expropriated 7,527 hectares of prime agricultural land in the North Pickering area and habitat for almost 200 rare plant and animal species. What’s more, the proposed airport site sits on sacred Indigenous land.

This airport was never built. But in 2022, the threat of an airport continues to stifle investment in the area and withhold some of the finest arable land in North America from people and nature.

Today, with climate chaos and a biodiversity crisis threatening our very existence, clinging to a 1970s airport plan is senseless and reckless.

This area hosts some of the best farmland in the country. It also provides natural climate mitigation solutions and serves as important connecting habitat between wild landscapes that are critical to avert more species extinction in the region where biodiversity loss has hit Canada the hardest.

In the intervening five decades the world has changed.

March 2nd marks 50 years since expropriation. This decision is glaringly out of step with the needs of today. It’s time to make a course correction.

Urge Prime Minister Trudeau to release the remaining Pickering Federal Lands and add them to Rouge National Urban Park.

It is time to advance reconciliation, protect essential farmland and bring greater ecological security to the Greater Toronto Area.

Email the Prime Minister today.