Torstar Publisher of the Toronto Star reports Q4 profit, Lower Revenue

TORONTO — Torstar Corp. had $8.65 million of net income attributable to its shareholders in the fourth quarter, as it benefited from cost-cutting efforts that offset a 10 per cent decline in revenue compared with the year-earlier period.

The profit amounted to 11 cents per share for the three months ended Dec. 31, up from a profit attributable to shareholders of $1.26 million or a penny per share in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Operating revenue for the Toronto-based publishing company was $169.34 million in the three months ended Dec. 31, down from $188.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2016.

On an adjusted basis, Torstar says its adjusted earnings amounted to 32 cents per share, up from 16 cents per share a year earlier.

Torstar said the adjusted earnings included 19 cents per share amortization item related primarily with its investment in VerticalScope, a digital publishing business.

Torstar and Postmedia announced on Nov. 27 that they had exchanged a total of 41 publications and would stop publishing the majority of them, resulting in 291 job losses.

Torstar chief executive John Boynton said in announcing the deal that the transaction would allow for more operational efficiencies and improve annualized operating earnings by between $5 million and $7 million.

Besides the Toronto Star newspaper and its affiliated website, Torstar owns daily and community newspapers throughout Ontario, a 56.4 per cent interest in VerticalScope and minority interests in a number of other companies.

Torstar also holds an investment in The Canadian Press as part of a joint agreement with a subsidiary of the Globe and Mail and the parent company of Montreal's La Presse.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TS.B, TSX:PNC.B)

Please share this

Marci Ien CTV News Constant Run Ins with Toronto Cops What's Her Problem?

Marci Ien CommunistTV News anchor, the SOCIAList, complainer.

Learn how to drive and follow the rules of the road.

If you don't like Canada, you can always go to South Africa where white farmers are dying.

Marci Ien wrote the following in the GLOBAList & MAIL.

Another sleepless night. I keep thinking about what happened. I keep thinking about what could have happened. What was meant to be a quiet Sunday evening last week turned into something else. That I am an award-winning journalist didn't matter. That I co-host a national television show didn't matter. That I have lived in the neighbourhood for 13 years didn't matter.

But being black mattered. Maybe the hooded parka I was wearing mattered, too. I was being stopped by a police officer in my driveway outside of my house in Toronto.

I was at home. My safe place. And I was scared.

How often does this scenario play out? A lot more often than we want to admit. Canada is one of the most diverse countries in the world, but racism permeates every aspect of our society. We like to point fingers at the racial discord in the United States, but fail to acknowledge our shortcomings here at home. Our country has to get its own house in order before patting itself on the back for being a paragon of racial harmony.

The black community's relationship with the police in this country has been well-documented and much written about: If you are a person of colour in Canada, you experience a profoundly different – and sometimes troubling – relationship with the law. When we hear about incidents involving people of colour and the police, or other enforcement agencies, they seem to mostly involve black men – my father and husband included. But this is not an experience limited to men, as I have personally come to understand.

For the third time in eight months, I was being questioned by a police officer – and I had broken no law.

I had just driven my daughter to my sister's house for a sleepover. The streets were unusually quiet as I pulled into my driveway. A police cruiser was parked behind me – lights flashing. I got out of my car to ask him why he was there.

"Get back in your vehicle!"

"Pardon?" I asked, alarmed by his tone.

"Get back in your vehicle!"

I quickly got back into my car and shut the door. As he approached, I cracked the door open to hear what he had to say. He told me to close it, and then gestured for me to lower the window. As the window lowered, I looked up at him – at his uniform, his stance, his eyes – and wondered: "What now?" I felt a queasiness in my stomach. I felt powerless, but summoned some strength. I'm not going to break, I told myself. I will remain calm.

But I'm not calm. I'm frustrated. I'm angry. I don't deserve this. Not now, nor the previous times I had been pulled over. "I want to let you know you're being recorded," he informed me. "You failed to stop at a stop sign back there. That's dangerous, there's a school there … lots of kids." I told him my daughter attends that school, silently giving thanks she wasn't with me. He asked for my ID, and I handed over my licence, registration and ownership.

As he perused them he asked me if I live here. "Yes," I said. When he returned to his cruiser, my reporter instincts kicked in: I texted my family to let them know what was happening, so there was a definitive record of time and place. My phone started ringing – it was my sister.

I answered and quickly explained what was going on. She told me, repeatedly, to get his badge number. In the background, I heard my mom asking if I was okay. I hung up.

Next came a panicked text from my daughter asking why a police cruiser was in our driveway – apparently a friend and neighbour had seen the flashing lights and contacted her to ask what was happening. I texted back that an officer said I had rolled through a red, referring to the flashing red stop light in front of my daughter's school. A couple seconds later, the officer returns. "I'm going to give you a warning. Be careful driving out there."

"If I've done something wrong give me the ticket," I said. "I'm prepared to pay it."

I went on to tell him that this marked the third time in the past eight months that I had been stopped by police. Every time the initial questions had been the same: "Do you live around here? Is this your vehicle?" In every case, I wasn't issued a ticket.

Then I asked the officer point blank: "How do I explain this to my kids? I teach them to be respectful, fair and kind, but I'm not feeling respected, served or protected right now."

He looked at me, bid me good night and walked away.

But there is no walking away from the truth. The stop signal at my daughter's school is half a kilometre away; why wasn't I pulled over there? Why did he follow me home? Why, after seeing the address on my driver's licence, did he still ask if I lived at my home?

Who you are doesn't matter; it's what you are. If you are black in Canada, you are subject to a different standard and, often, seemingly, different laws.

So how do we fix this? There are no easy answers, but one solution would be to start with our kids. We know that children are not born with prejudice. Racism is learned. A study by renowned Harvard psychologist and racism expert Mahzarin Banaji shows that biases can be instilled as early as 3.

What if tolerance and empathy are prioritized in the early stages of childhood? We've seen far too many times what happens when they're not. Bottom line – when we do better, our kids do better. Only then can we precipitate change.

I lingered behind the wheel for a long while, too shaken to go inside. So many thoughts. I finally forced myself to get out of the car, walked to the front door and slowly turned the key.

Please share this

Shoppers Drug Mart yanks gun mag after ex-Toronto mayor David "douchebag" Miller complains

Gun enthusiasts are calling Shoppers Drug Mart’s decision to pull a firearms magazine from its shelves “weak” after it received a complaint from former Toronto mayor David Miller. following what they are calling a “political” complaint from a former Toronto mayor as “weak.”

On Saturday, Miller directed a tweet to the company accompanied by a picture of Recoil magazine depicting a handgun and blade on the front cover. “Really @ShopprsDrugMart, promoting semi automatic weapons at our local shop? How about you stop.”

Really @ShopprsDrugMart , promoting semi automatic weapons at our local shop? How about you stop. pic.twitter.com/YzJoAUkziw

— David Miller T.O. (@iamdavidmiller) February 17, 2018

Shoppers Drug Mart responded to the tweet on Tuesday, saying, “We’ve decided to remove this issue from our stores. We are working on pulling all copies in circulation and will not receive any further shipments of this publication.”

Neither Miller nor Shoppers Drug Mart could immediately be reached for comment on Thursday.

Miller’s Twitter feed has been filled with gun control posts, including those related to the Parkland school shooting that left 17 dead when a gunman entered a Florida high school and went on a firing spree.

But Sheldon Clare, president of the Canadian gun advocacy group National Firearms Association, said reading a magazine about guns doesn’t mean the reader will be swayed towards violence.

“People have the right to read whatever they want to read as long as it doesn’t promote hate or pornography and there are a lot of people that are interested in the history of firearms,” he said. “Pulling magazines off of a shelf based on the complaint of someone who clearly has a political agenda to suppress people reading things they’re interested in is completely silly.”

Clare added he thinks it’s “really weak” of Shoppers Drug Mart to succumb to Miller’s request.

“If we start down the path of burning books, then you end up in a very dark place,” he said.

A number of people on Twitter also expressed concern over censorship.

“How is this brilliant? Looking at pictures in a magazine of firearms we can’t even own in Canada doesn’t hurt anyone. Censorship is wrong. If you can’t see it I guess it doesn’t exist though, correct?” one wrote.

“Really, it only takes one complaint to remove stuff from your store? hope you removed all the other offensive magazines, too? Got any drug paraphernalia mags? Magazines on violent video games? I will have to come in and see what I don’t like,” wrote another person.

Please share this

Toronto TTC suspends fare inspector after black teen pinned to ground in streetcar incident

The TTC has suspended a fare inspector with pay after a black teen was pinned to the ground in an incident caught on video Sunday.

The city's ombudsman has launched a review of the incident, in which two TTC fare inspectors tackled the young man to the ground as he exited a streetcar.

According to streetcar rider Bethany McBride, who posted a short video of the incident to Facebook, the young man was getting off the St. Clair streetcar at Bathurst Street on Sunday afternoon when he was grabbed by a fare inspector. The teen pushed the TTC employee in response, McBride said. When the teen stepped off the streetcar, the inspector, along with a second one, tackled the young man to the ground.

On the video, the man can be heard saying, "You're hurting me" over and over.

Within minutes, Toronto police officers also arrived at the scene. The young man was eventually put in handcuffs.

Video 'extremely alarming'

"I was very upset and disturbed when I saw the video," Toronto ombudsman Susan Opler told CBC Radio's Metro Morning on Thursday.

"We don't know the whole story yet, and I think it's important that I say that," Opler said.

"But what was depicted in that video was extremely alarming because what we saw was a young person, a young person of colour, who had been overpowered physically by two transit fare inspectors, whose job is to check proof of payment on a streetcar."

5 alleged violations

On Friday, TTC CEO Rick Leary posted an open letter on the TTC's website addressed to Opler, in which he assures her the transit commission will "take all appropriate steps to thoroughly address this incident and the allegations made in its wake."

Leary's letter outlines five alleged violations of the Transit Enforcement Unit Code of Conduct for which the staff member is being investigated. These include failing to treat customers equally without discrimination, assaulting a TTC customer and using unauthorized force.

Leary also writes that TTC staff have contacted police to request an investigation.

3 investigations launched, Tory says

Mayor John Tory called the incident "deeply disturbing" in his own letter Friday.

In a response to an open letter sent out by Coun. Neethan Shan on Thursday, Tory wrote "any from of violence, discrimination, or racism is not tolerated.

"I share your concern that young people, particularly young people from racialized communities, are facing more instances of this kind," the letter reads.

In his open letter posted Thursday to Twitter, Shan, who represents Ward 42, Scarborough-Rouge River and is the city's youth advocate, demanded an investigation and a meeting about the incident.

"I remain concerned that young people, particularly young people of colour, are being impacted by excessive force and targeting in our city," Shan wrote in his letter.

He references a letter addressed to Tory and Coun. Josh Colle, chair of the TTC,  by a group called The St. Clair West Village Residents, which calls for answers about what exactly happened to the teen.

In his letter, Tory assures Shan that three investigations have been launched into the case.

He writes that the TTC is "taking this matter very seriously" and is currently investigating.

Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders has also started an internal investigation, Tory writes. And finally the city ombudsman is "probing this incident and reviewing the TTC's investigation."
Please share this

Mississauga business explosion injures five

Images tweeted by Peel paramedics show heavy smoke billowing from the area with debris scattered along Hurontario Street

Five people — including a child — were assessed for injuries and dozens have been displaced after a commercial business exploded, rocking the streets of Mississauga Sunday morning.

Emergency crews rushed to a strip plaza in the Dundas St. West and Hurontario St. area just before 7:30 a.m. after receiving a call for the explosion that happened right next to Thomas L. Kennedy Secondary School.

Mississauga’s fire chief Tim Beckett told media on scene that half the plaza had collapsed and there was structural damage to apartment buildings nearby.

Beckett said five victims were inside the building, two who immediately exited with minor injuries and three who moved themselves to the roof where fire services rescued them. A male rescued from the roof was transported to the hospital in serious, but non-life threatening condition and now remains in stable condition. Two females also located on the roof of the plaza have minor injuries.

Images tweeted by Peel paramedics show heavy smoke billowing from the area with debris scattered along Hurontario Street. The impact of the explosion also left some of the windows of businesses located across the plaza shattered.

Police said 50 to 70 people were impacted by the explosion. Buses were relocating residents living in the immediate area, Beckett said. Mississauga Valley Community Centre is providing shelter for the displaced individuals and social service officials are on scene.

Shawna Baker, a Mississauga resident, said she felt the “rumble on her feet” while getting coffee at a nearby Tim Horton’s.

“I live a five-minute walk from the explosion. My husband and kids woke up from the sound while at home. There are a lot of windows of businesses and apartments that are blown out.”

Baker said her mom works as a cleaner at the plaza and was glad to hear that she wasn’t working that morning.

About four hours after the explosion, Peel fire services remained at the scene battling a fire with a hose aimed primarily at the north-end of the plaza where a roof was seen collapsed.

Peel police have shut down Hurontario St. from Dundas St. to Hillcrest Ave. in both directions.

Investigators are asking the community to avoid the area and close their windows due to the heavy smoke in the area.

The cause of the explosion is unknown.

Please share this

Mississauga Explosion Three people were hurt in an explosion in the Dundas-Hurontario Sts. area

Three people were injured after an explosion at a strip mall in Mississauga on Sunday morning.

Emergency crews were called at about 7:30 a.m. to a business in the Hurontario-Dundas Sts. area.

“There are several trucks here and fire is working the scene. It was a large explosion,” said Const Bally Saini.

“Three people were treated at the scene.”

The cause of the explosion is under investigation.

More to come.

Please share this

Toronto GTA Highway 413 Ontario Stops multi-lane highway would have taken commuters from Vaughan to Milton

After years of planning and millions of dollars in studies, the province has decided to put the brakes for good on a multi-lane highway that would have taken commuters from Vaughan to Milton.

In a much anticipated decision released Friday, the Ministry of Transportation said in a news release it has “accepted an expert advisory panel’s recommendation that a proposed highway in the GTA West corridor is not the best way to address changing transportation needs.”

The panel, which was made up of three industry experts, found that the environmental assessment that had been started on the highway, also dubbed 413, “did not demonstrate that a new corridor that crosses protected lands was the only reasonable option to address future transportation needs in the study area.”

Residents and environmentalists has been concerned that the proposed route for the GTA West highway, which was to connect Vaughan at Highway 400 to Halton Region at the 407, would have cut through large swaths of the protected Greenbelt forest.

That’s why the advisory panel suggested a broader transportation plan, looking at the needs of the entire region would be more effective, rather than simply building new highways in a piecemeal way.

“The panel recommends the development of a single transportation plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe,” according to the GTA West Corridor Advisory Panel report. “The plan would also provide the opportunity to consider changing social and economic conditions, as well as technological changes such as connected and self-driving vehicles.”

Tim Gray, the executive director for Environmental Defence, called the decision a “signature moment.”

“It marks a real change in direction,” said Gray, who had presented to the panel on behalf of Environmental Defence.

“I think essentially the panel found that the highway was not going to decrease transit times in any significant way,” he said. “They just found that you don’t need to do this.”

Since 2013, the province had conducted a number of environmental assessments and public consultations to identify a preferred route for the four- to six-lane highway linking Vaughan and Milton.

But in December 2015, the province suddenly suspended work on the project, saying it was “essential to have a forward-looking plan when it comes to relieving congestion” and set up a panel to conduct an internal review.

Opposition parties had lambasted the province for suspending the EA, and claimed that the work thus far had cost taxpayers over $14-million.

Affected regional governments of York and Peel, had also been pushing for the completion of the assessment — concerned that further growth in their regions could not be supported without a highway to get people and goods from here to there.

But the advisory panel’s findings suggested otherwise.

In the report, they found that the creation of smaller highway corridor, expansions and extensions of existing highways, transit system improvements, better implementation of congestion pricing, and truck priority on Hwy 407 could offer the same results as building another new highway — or had not been sufficiently considered as alternate options.

The panel also suggested any future transportation plan be aligned with provincial growth plans for better co-ordination and consistency.

The cancellation of the project doesn’t mean the lands where the GTA West highway was to run will now be open for development.

The province plans to conduct a study over the next year to ensure “lands are protected so that new infrastructure, such as transit or utilities, can be developed to support and accommodate future growth and development.”

Please share this

Toronto Real Estate Prices: These Toronto Neighbourhoods saw house prices fall

Buying a detached home in Toronto right now would cost you significantly less, on average, than it would have one year ago – but does that mean we're in a buyers' market?


Not exactly, says the real estate website and brokerage Zoocasa.

The number and value of house sales in Toronto has been declining, it's true, with most analysts blaming government regulations like the Ontario Fair Housing Plan and new federal mortgage rules for the dive.

But a buyers' market isn't defined by how affordable things are. Instead, it refers to how competitive things are in terms of purchasing homes.

Using a metric called the sales-to-new-listings ratio, Zoocasa broke down neighbourhoods in Toronto by whether they could be considered buyers', balanced, or sellers' markets.

"The ratio is calculated by dividing the number of sales by the number of new listings within a certain time frame in that region," reads a blog post on the company's website.

"As overall market sales and prices can fluctuate over time, monitoring the sales-to-new-listing ratio is an accurate way of determining just what is happening in a specific region."

Anyone looking for a house right now would be well-advised to check out properties in the following municipalities, which went from a sellers' or balanced market to a buyers' market over the last year.

• Willowdale
• Leaside, Thorncliffe
• Centennial Scarborough, West Hill
• Eglinton West, Rockcliffe-Smythe
• Bedford Park, Lawrence Park South
• Mount Pleasant East
• Banbury-Don Mills, Victoria Village
• Willowdale East
• The Beaches, Woodbine Corridor

Please share this

Toronto man rushed to hospital with gunshot wounds near Bayview Village

A man was rushed to hospital via emergency run after police say he appeared to have been thrown or fell out of a car in the Bayview Village area.

Police got a call around 11:15 p.m. for a man with gunshot wounds near Burbank Dr. and Canary Cres., in the Bayview and Finch Aves. area. He was conscious and breathing upon arrival at hospital, but is now in a coma, said Const. David Hopkinson.

Shooting in the Burbank Dr. & Canary Cres, area, 1 male victim being taken to hospital via emergency run. Witnesses pls call 416-808-3300 further to follow. #GO249547 @TPS33Div  ^gl

— Toronto Police OPS (@TPSOperations) February 9, 2018

No arrests have been made.

Please share this

Toronto TDSB Trustee Sheila Cary-Meagher NDP on leave with pay after 'dyke' remarks

Sheila Cary-Meagher a career NDP Toronto District School Board (TDSB) trustee is on leave with pay after the board’s integrity commissioner found her guilty of “discreditable conduct” for using the “dyke” word repeatedly at an expulsion hearing last fall.

At a lengthy meeting Wednesday, her board colleagues — most of them socialist and union-backed — refused to consider a public censure of 30-year-plus trustee Sheila Cary-Meagher, or leave without pay, even though integrity commissioner Suzanne Craig’s report made it clear the trustee’s behaviour was abhorrent.

When asked by a trustee — all of whom seemed to dance around the findings — whether Cary-Meagher should continue to be paid, board chairman Robin Pilkey claimed they have to pay her because she failed to ask “not to be paid.”

According to Craig’s report, the trustee in question started calling an individual she apparently disliked a “dyke” while waiting for an expulsion hearing to commence last Nov. 27. Craig, who delivered a second report Wednesday criticizing Cary-Meagher for comments she publicly made about the board’s communication staff, said Thursday the individual targetted with the “dyke” slur was not a TDSB employee.

In her report, the integrity commissioner says the trustee would not back down, continuing to call the individual  a “dyke” and a “bitch” — even after being asked to stop. Cary-Meagher was reported to have said to those in the room who witnessed her comments: “I don’t care.”


Reached by phone Thursday, Cary-Meagher said she put out everything she had to say in a Feb. 2 letter  to Pilkey. In that letter,  she accepts “full responsibility” for her dyke comments and apologizes “unreservedly” to the people she offended.

At Wednesday night’s board meeting, the board — failing to recognize the irony — passed director John Malloy’s Enhancing Equity plan which, among other things, will provide all TDSB staff professional training in human rights, anti-oppression, anti-racism and how to deal with their apparent biases.

The board — also proving there is indeed a double standard for social justice warriors — didn’t even suggest that Cary-Meagher resign for her egregious behaviour.

There’s been absolute silence on this from the education ministry as well, despite the pronouncement  from former education minister Mitzie Hunter a year ago that another troubled trustee needed to step down for her remarks.

Nancy Elgie, who sat on the York Region school board, resigned under pressure last February after she used the n-word to refer to a black parent.

Cary-Meagher also refused comment on whether she should resign as Elgie did.

In another bit of irony, the trustee claims on her website that she’s a  “firm believer in ethical behaviour” noting  it demonstrates “respect for honesty, fairness, equality, dignity, diversity and individual rights.”

She also contends that she was firmly in support of appointing a new integrity commissioner, which occurred a year ago.
Please share this

Bombardier considers move away from Downsview Toronto

Bombardier is looking at relocating to Pearson, taking 3,500 jobs out of an area that was established as an aerospace hub.

Bombardier Inc. says it is considering the sale of a parcel of land adjacent to Downsview Park that houses an aircraft assembly plant employing 3,500 workers. But a city councillor is warning of a fight over any move that she says would violate a federal promise.

Bombardier spokesperson Olivier Marcil said Friday that the Montreal based aerospace giant is “exploring its options” with potential buyers for its 375-acre site that includes an airport runway and a production facility for jets and the turboprop Q400.

Marcil said some of the production could potentially be moved to Pearson International Airport, although a decision on if and where to relocate has not been made.

Bombardier has not received a firm offer for the property but has been in discussions, he said, adding that the company has reached out to stakeholders including the city to inform them of its plans.

The consideration is part of Bombardier’s five-year turnaround strategy that involves an examination of assets around the world, with the Downsview site of significant value.

The company’s aerospace division is a separate arm of the same company that has repeatedly missed delivery deadlines on Toronto’s new streetcars.

Downsview, north of the downtown core is a rapidly developing area that offers highway access and proximity to the city’s expanding rapid transit network.

Marcil also said the industrial site could ultimately be rezoned for mixed use including residential, creating a “win-win” for all stakeholders.

Mayor John Tory’s office is aware of Bombardier’s plans to shift production away from Downsview, said a spokesperson. “We have been in discussions with the provincial and federal governments as to how to protect — and even grow — jobs at Downsview and protect public investments made there over the years,” Don Peat said in an email.

But in an undated letter sent to Bombardier CEO Alain Bellemare, Councillor Maria Augimeri (Ward 9, York Centre) said the 35-acre parcel occupied by Bombardier’s facility, is designated as Employment Land under the city’s Official Plan and that won’t change.

“Speaking on behalf of our municipality, it is our intention for it to remain so,” she wrote.

“It is regrettable that after so many millions of public dollars have been spent on the creation of an Aerospace Hub on the Downsview Lands, that the lead member of the group will walk away from the site and all of our investments,” says the letter obtained by the Star.

Augimeri said the city will hold the federal government to its promise that the federally managed and owned park and associated lands will be protected in perpetuity and held in the public trust.

“If any plans by Bombardier emerge in violation of this promise, we will fight them,” the letter reads.
In an interview, the city councillor said she had been approached by an undisclosed developer who said Bombardier had discussed selling the property for residential development for up to $900 million.

Two years ago, the province and federal governments gave Centennial College $44.2 million toward a $78-million aerospace campus at Downsview that is currently under construction. It was part of an aerospace hub that was touted for its potential to create thousands of jobs in the next 20 years.

Although it owns about 375 acres at Downsview, Bombardier only uses about 35 of those for its manufacturing and testing. Its 7,000-foot runway is seldom used.

Liberal MP Michael Levitt (York Centre) said a move from Bombardier’s historic presence at Downsview is concerning, particularly as the nearby community has many underemployed priority neighbourhoods.

“Should a sale take place, I’m going to fight to ensure there’s a full and comprehensive public consultation on any future development regarding the Downsview lands. It’s critical for this community,” he said.

“It’s a disappointing turn of events. Hopefully we can make sure there’s opportunities ahead,” said Levitt.

Bombardier has been a presence at Downsview since 1992 when it bought the De Havilland operation there, which was owned by Boeing at the time and had been operating on the Toronto property since 1928.

Canada Lands, the crown agency in charge of redeveloping and managing former government properties, owns 500 adjacent acres, including 290 acres of green space, at Downsview Park.

 
Please share this

Toronto Councillor Maria Augimeri says Bombardier seeking to develop Downsview land for housing

Councillor Maria Augimeri said she has it “on good authority” that aerospace and rail giant Bombardier is exploring the possibility of selling some of its 152 hectares of property in Downsview for a “massive housing project.”

In a statement released Friday, the company said it is exploring possibilities for the land. The property currently contains a manufacturing plant, hangars and runway north of Wilson Avenue and the Ancaster neighbourhood.

“Bombardier is in the midst of a five-year turnaround plan to ensure our long-term success as a company,” spokesperson Olivier Marcil said. “As part of this turnaround plan, we have been reviewing our facilities worldwide – including Downsview – to ensure we have the most efficient and cost effective operations necessary to support our growth objectives.”

The company says they currently use about 10 per cent of a 375-acre site and bears the entire cost of operating a 7,000-feet runway.

“We understand that the property’s unique location, proximity to public transit, major highways, universities and shopping make it an ideal location for employment and other uses, and we will work with all stakeholders throughout our review process.”

The Downsview Bombardier plant produces the Q400 passenger plane and components for several business jets sold by the company.

Bombardier also would not comment on long-term plans for manufacturing planes at the site. Last year, the company laid off 400 employees at the site as part of a wider cost-cutting move.

“We want to underscore that Bombardier is committed to a successful aerospace sector in Ontario and to supporting the Downsview Aerospace Innovation and Research Initiative.”

The company says the sale process will begin this year.

“Before any sale can take place, a number of conditions will need to be met, including completing a due diligence, engaging with various stakeholders, identifying an appropriate buyer and obtaining a fair offer that is advantageous to our company and employees. This process is running its course and we expect to make progress in the first part of 2018.”

Please share this