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Everything will be alright in the end. If it is not yet alright, then it is not yet the end.

John Lennon

Today is indeed a sad day for many in the aviation community as yet another general aviation airport is closed in Canada. This trend is disturbing on several levels.

It shows shortsightedness on the part of the federal government. The government should be promoting a stronger stance on general aviation as it is a core economic driver for local economies.

It hurts the Canadian commercial aviation industry in a time of great need due to expansion since the pilot training schools are now closed too. There is a global shortage of qualified pilots so pilot development is essential for our airlines to continue to grow.

It is a huge loss to the local medical community as it was a daily hub for air ambulances and helicopters rescuing injured parties. Police used the airport for traffic airplanes and for prison transport too. Even government officials arrived and departed regularly to attend critical political meetings and serve their constituents.

The radio and television traffic and news helicopters from CFTR 680, CTV / CFTO News, Global Television, and others will no longer have a centrally located base of operations to get us all through the highway congestion during our daily commute and break the important news stories of the day.

The Markham area lost a lot of successful and thriving businesses that paid taxes to underpin the region and the city. Yes, new warehouses will be built to fill the Markham coffers in the future, but the essence of an airport is a valuable element of the City of Markham’s makeup. More warehouses do not provide the diversity needed in every Canadian city.

The General Aviation flying community lost its home airport. These local pilots did a lot of good for the community with a 60 year history of community giveback from Young Eagles, COPA for Kids, Charity Events, Hope Air flights, and much more.

Finally, the loss of the airport will no long spark the vivid imaginations of countless children with their faces pressed hard up against the fence straining to see airplanes take to the skies. It has forever extinguished those gasps and squeals of delight as the wheels gently lift off the runway into the air to slip the bonds of earth and to open those young minds of future possibilities.

Yes, today is indeed a sad day and we are all feeling the loss of our friend – the airport.

The drone footage was shot by the Buttonville Flying Club’s own Mark Brooks and the editing was done by fellow BFC Member, Michael Martin

About the Author:

Michael Martin is the Vice President of Technology with Metercor Inc., a Smart Meter, IoT, and Smart City systems integrator based in Canada. He has more than 40 years of experience in systems design for applications that use broadband networks, optical fibre, wireless, and digital communications technologies. He is a business and technology consultant. He was a senior executive consultant for 15 years with IBM, where he worked in the GBS Global Center of Competency for Energy and Utilities and the GTS Global Center of Excellence for Energy and Utilities. He is a founding partner and President of MICAN Communications and before that was President of Comlink Systems Limited and Ensat Broadcast Services, Inc., both divisions of Cygnal Technologies Corporation (CYN: TSX). Martin served on the Board of Directors for TeraGo Inc (TGO: TSX) and on the Board of Directors for Avante Logixx Inc. (XX: TSX.V).  He has served as a Member, SCC ISO-IEC JTC 1/SC-41 – Internet of Things and related technologies, ISO – International Organization for Standardization, and as a member of the NIST SP 500-325 Fog Computing Conceptual Model, National Institute of Standards and Technology. He served on the Board of Governors of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) [now OntarioTech University] and on the Board of Advisers of five different Colleges in Ontario.  For 16 years he served on the Board of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), Toronto Section.  He holds three master’s degrees, in business (MBA), communication (MA), and education (MEd). As well, he has three undergraduate diplomas and five certifications in business, computer programming, internetworking, project management, media, photography, and communication technology. He has completed over 30 next generation MOOC continuous education in IoT, Cloud, AI and Cognitive systems, Blockchain, Agile, Big Data, Design Thinking, Security, Indigenous Canada awareness, and more.