The City of Mississauga has declared war on the Greater Toronto Airports Authority.

Mississauga city councillors voted on Wednesday to cease negotiations with the operator of Toronto Pearson International Airport on plans to build a multibillion dollar transit hub near the airport until a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two sides has been approved. The proposed hub, referred to as “Union Station West,” would serve as a regional transit terminal for the western end of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, connecting trains, light rail vehicles and buses.

“No one should meet with them until our staff tells us there is a real negotiation underway,” said Councillor Carolyn Parrish, arguing the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) has been operating outside of the city’s rules and regulations since its inception.

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“It’s like the Vatican in the middle of Italy,” she said. “They are completely unto themselves and until this point when they wanted something they have been so unco-operative as to be embarrassing.”

Echoing the sentiments of former Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion, who had a lengthy and colourful history sparring with the GTAA during her reign, Parrish is demanding they start playing by the rules.

The Ward 5 councillor put forward a motion at the Dec. 13 council meeting listing a number of issues that she wants addressed before the GTAA proceeds with future land acquisitions and transit expansion plans in the city. These include payment of development charges on non-airport lands, payments-in-lieu-of taxes (PILTs), stormwater fees and the GTAA’s alleged non-compliance with municipal development processes.

The city contends the GTAA has failed to pay development charges that were promised for a hotel, warehouse, car dealership and Tim Hortons restaurant in operation near the airport.

Mississauga has also filed a lawsuit against the GTAA for refusing to pay nearly $5 million in stormwater fees.

Since Pearson airport sits on federally-owned property, the GTAA is not required to pay property taxes. Rather, it is billed PILTs determined by a per passenger rate count which city staff say is grossly inadequate compared to other airports across Canada.

The per passenger rate for Pearson travellers is 94 cents, which has been in place since 2001. Down the road in London, that figure is almost double, at $1.67 per passenger. If Mississauga’s rate were equal to that of London, the city would receive $42.5 million in PILTs per year from the GTAA, instead of the $23 million it currently collects.

“They’re literally bleeding us dry,” said Parrish, stressing the need for the two sides to hammer out an MOU before the GTAA moves ahead with plans to build the $11.2-billion transit hub.

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The GTAA has refuted the city’s claims, arguing they submitted $33 million in PILTs last year and that tenants leasing their lands handed over $21 million in municipal taxes to the city in 2016. The GTAA also contends they should not be on the hook for paying the “illegal” stormwater tax because they have invested $120 million in state-of-the-art stormwater management at the airport.

Pearson airport is the largest economic driver in Mississauga, generating 44,000 jobs across the region and attracting hundreds of international businesses — a point the GTAA consistently falls back on in matters pertaining to the city.

“We are surprised and disappointed with this resolution given the significance of transit, not only for Mississauga (but) for the entire region,” said GTAA spokesperson Beverly MacDonald. “Knowing that transit is one of the biggest priorities for residents, we will continue to push ahead with other municipalities and levels of government to move the transit agenda forward.”

The GTAA has been lobbying the federal government to build support for the “Union Station West” project, which would be served by GO Transit, LRT lines along Eglinton and Finch, UP Airport Express and Mississauga Bus Rapid Transit.

Ottawa is reviewing the ownership structure of the airport, which could include selling off parts of Pearson to the private sector to help fund the transit hub.

In addition to funding, the GTAA will require land for the regional transit centre.

“The concern I have is that they (GTAA) are continuing to buy lands and properties all along Airport Road,” Parrish noted. “If those properties fall under federal jurisdiction and become Crown lands, the city will lose millions in property taxes.”

The GTAA would not confirm what properties they have purchased, but said the lands have not been transferred to the federal Crown and as a result “they continue to fall within the city’s jurisdiction for planning purposes and taxation.”

In its 20-year master plan, the GTAA predicts 85 million passengers will travel in and out of Pearson airport annually by 2037 — double the number of people it serves today.

“They (GTAA) keep talking about their growth . . . but we don’t seem to get a share of it,” said Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie.

In August, the GTAA announced McCallion as a member of the board of directors. City council is hopeful the former mayor will ensure Mississauga’s interests are well represented while the GTAA plans for further expansion.

“This is a significant Canadian asset — our largest airport — and its future success is tied to our future success,” Crombie said.

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