Airport noise issue on agenda again

By Kevin Woodhouse, September 26th, 2012

As MP for NDG-Lachine, NDP’s Isabelle Morin has heard from many constituents, particularly those living in Dorval, about noise emanating from night flights taking off and landing at Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport.  During the sumer, Morin sent out a questionnaire on the issue and received more than 300 responses.   On Sept. 12, Morin held a public consultation where more than 100 attendees came to discuss night flights.
“The first step in our process was to hear from citizens directly and many spoke about their concerns over night flights that occur between midnight and six a.m.,” Morin told The Suburban.
And while there were no statistics available for the amount of night flights that took place at the airport from 2010-2011, Morin consulted older research that noted about “15,000 flights during those six hours which works out to about 45 every night.”
Morin also found out from talking to residents that for some, their quality of life and health are being affected by the night flights.  And while Morin is aware of the economic engine that is the airport, “there is an impact on health and the environment so perhaps a curfew would be a solution.”
The MP also heard from citizens about the apparent lack of support from ADM (Aeroports de Montreal)  as “they do not have much contact with citizens except for one yearly meeting that usually takes place at about 10 a.m. on a Friday so anyone working, cannot attend.  There are many airports in the world near municipalities and we would like to find out how they restrict noise.  This is not a new problem but it seems to be getting worse.”
Dominique Lambert of ADM told The Suburban that “the ADM has gotten together with Morin following her election and if we were invited to another public consultation— we weren’t offered to go to this one —  we would offer our necessary attention to this matter.”
Josianne Martel, Transport Canada’s communications advisor for Quebec, told The Suburban via an e-mail response that since 1992, ADM is solely responsible for the management and development of the airport, an arrangement that has been agreed upon for the next 60 years.
Martel explained that night flights are allowed by ADM for exceptions like weather, medical emergencies or mechanical woes.   “When Transport Canada receives a complaint from a citizen, the matter is immediately referred to ADM as that organism is responsible for the handling of noise at the airport.”
For Morin, she plans to evaluate the information gathered from the public meeting and expects to follow the issue as well as “make a follow up report.”n