Torontonians want to know what Justin Trudeau will do for them. Yet even before the electoral dust has settled, his government’s promise to kill the expansion of the Billy Bishop Toronto Island Airport is a gift that will keep on giving.

Though the battle rages still, it’s clear the political headwinds have shifted. Adding 200 metres to each end of the runway to accommodate passenger jets in an operation that has no place being there in the first place has less support than ever.

That, of course, means little in a city where even a proposal as inappropriate as this is taken seriously — and at the highest levels. The campaign led by Porter Airlines’ Robert Deluce has been extremely effective. His fans are numerous, especially among those who don’t live downtown.

But all the public relations in the world can’t make a silk purse of a sow’s ear, or turn a potential city-wrecker into a desirable urban amenity. Even as it is, the kids who attend nearby Harbourfront Public School may breathe some of the most polluted air in Toronto. It doesn’t come from Porter’s turboprops, but from the cabs that serve them.

At one point, a Porter ally suggested the school, which also houses a community centre, should be torn down for a parking lot. That anyone could float such a desperate proposal shows how high the stakes are. It also reveals the sense of unreality that has surrounded the file from the start.

Flying jets in and out of Billy Bishop would make a bad situation worse. And given the billions of dollars, both public and private, that have been poured into revitalizing the waterfront, sacrificing valuable land on the altar of corporate hubris would be self-defeating.

“The commitment we made during the election holds,” insists Toronto MP Adam Vaughan. “There are a lot of competing interests on the waterfront. The tripartite agreement sets the right balance and has given us the waterfront we have today.”

Transportation Minister Marc Garneau, has insisted no decision would be made until after the issue has (yet again) been thoroughly studied, but late Thursday evening tweeted confirmation that there’s no intention to reopen the tripartite agreement.

If Vaughan is right that the Liberals won’t allow jets into the island airport, his party has done Toronto a huge favour. This is the sort of decision that eludes the city. Even when Deluce wrote to Toronto’s ex-mayor and big supporter, Rob Ford, in 2013 asking the city to approve expansion, he got nowhere.

The city isn’t mature enough to do the right thing. Bright shiny objects in the sky are enough to dazzle council long enough to sway opinions. The former federal government’s record on the issue wasn’t wildly reassuring, either.

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Deluce wants the environmental assessment to continue regardless. Seemingly he hopes it will find the island perfect for jets. That report is expected early next year.

But the tripartite agreement that governs the airport can only be redrawn if all three parties — federal government, city and PortsToronto — agree. As of two weeks ago, it seems at least one doesn’t.

Deluce’s next argument will be that the CSeries jets he wants are important to the economic health of its manufacturer, Bombardier. In Toronto, however, where the company has failed to deliver the streetcars it’s building for the TTC in timely fashion, its name is synonymous with corporate ineptitude.

A yes from Garneau would mean flying in the face of his colleagues from Canada’s most powerful city. As a former astronaut, Garneau surely knows the importance of a soft landing.