durhamregion.com This Week | Thursday, March 3, 2022 | 6 Arriving home from school on a memorable day 50 years ago, Brougham resident Gord McGregor's youngest daughter was in tears. "Somehow, someone in the school knew before we did, and the next day we heard we were being expropriated," McGregor recalled. On March 2, 1972, it was official: the local school teacher who had just renovated his home to accommodate his growing family, learned his house would no longer belong to him. It sat on the 18,600 acres of biodiverse prime farmland and hamlets in Pickering, Markham, and Uxbridge townships that the federal government had chosen for an airport -- one that still hasn't been built five decades later, but hasn't been cancelled either. "Yes, it celebrates 50 years of citizen action but in the larger sense, what happened 50 years ago was horrendous," said Land Over Landings chair Mary Delaney. McGregor describes his north Pickering hamlet of Brougham as a "lovely hamlet" in the early 1970s. "We were sort of just getting on our feet," McGregor said. Soon after, it would all start to change. People like McGregor, who wished to remain in their homes, would give up ownership to the government and pay rent instead. The population has dwindled, and many vacated homes have been boarded up and demolished. McGregor has been part a decades-long protest that still hasn't ended. "It's probably one of the longest peaceful demonstrations any country has ever seen," he said. "They did lots of crazy things down here," McGregor said. "Some of the women were pretty brave." The anti-airport group People Or Planes was born, made up of farmers, business people, artists, and hippies, and held peaceful demonstration such as mock funerals. Women stood before bulldozers that were ready to demolish homes. The group later transitioned into Land Over Landings, a voice now promoting use of the land for farming and agri-tourism, and has a study to back it up. While the land has remained in limbo, it has also inadvertently remained safe from developers, McGregor said. "We've got this land full of the best farmland in the country, with clean waterways and habitat and it's still here," said Delaney. In recent years, half of the federal airport site was transferred to Rouge National Urban Park (RNAP), and farmers have signed 10-year leases. Pickering-Uxbridge MP Jennifer O'Connell wants these lands included in the RNAP, but with specific protections for agriculture and agriculture leases. "COVID is another perfect example of what happens when supply chains get disrupted, and the need for sustainably grown food in our backyard," she said. "Once you pave over Class 1 farmland, that's it forever." Pickering Mayor Dave Ryan believes agriculture and aviation can coexist. "There are many examples of large-scale agricultural greenhouse operations sited beside airports in Europe and Asia," he said in a statement. "This same model can be adopted here in Pickering." Delaney believes the city is making a case for an airport that isn't even needed. "Why hasn't the City of Pickering recognized that having a national park in your city is a wonderful thing?" Delaney said. Ryan noted in the statement, "Land Over Landings ... wants what they feel is in the best interest of Pickering -- and I can respect that. While the city has a like-minded goal, we feel there is another way to achieve it." Ryan said it's not a matter of if an airport is needed, but when, and added the creation of one could jump-start the economy by creating tens of thousands of new jobs and attracting billions of dollars in economic development to the region. In 2019, the Town of Ajax passed a resolution, stating that it too supports the development of an airport in Pickering in principle, "based on an approved business case presented by the federal government." Ultimately, it comes down to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose father, former prime minister Pierre Trudeau's Liberal government was responsible for the original expropriation. "Our government's position has always been there won't be any decision to go forward with an airport without a strong business case," O'Connell said. A KPMG report released in 2020 stated a new airport is not expected to be required in southern Ontario prior to 2036 from a capacity standpoint. Ryan notes the report does make a case for the development of a smaller industrial/specialty airport that could service Ontario right now. "Think large-scale aviation industrial businesses, such as aircraft/component manufacturing, maintenance, repair, overhaul firms, avionics installation/repair, and aircraft parts supply and distribution," he said. Environmental groups continue to support Land Over Landings' vision. Wildlands League has recently posted an open letter to Trudeau, which the public can sign at wildlandsleague.org, asking him to move the lands to Rouge National Urban Park. "It is a decision in step with the times and in line with your government's incredible commitments to reconciliation and to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030," it said. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: The News Advertiser has been covering the fight against an airport for decades and felt it necessary to mark the 50th anniversary of the expropriation. 50 YEARS OF EXPROPRIATED LAND IN PICKERING KRISTEN CALIS KCalis@durhamregion.com NEWS IN 1972, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT EXPROPRIATED MORE THAN 18,000 ACRES OF FARMLAND FOR AN AIRPORT Top: In one of many staged events in the 1970's by People Or Planes, a funeral procession took an effigy of then Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau to be hanged. Above: Land Over Landings' youth wing chair Sari Sarieddine (left), chair Mary Delaney (centre) and honourary chair Gord McGregor (right), stand in front of Brougham Community Hall, 50 years after the federal government expropriated 7,527 hectares of land for a proposed airport that still hasn't been built. Land Over Landings photos