Toronto Island residents are reacting to Premier Doug Ford calling them “squatters” amid a debate over expansion of Billy Bishop Island Airport.

Ford said last week he was “eager” to see the modernization and expansion of the airport, which includes extending the runway in order to accommodate larger jet engines.

Calls to allow larger jets to land at Billy Bishop have been opposed by City Hall and local groups for more than two decades, but Ford referenced recent internal polling, which claims 70 per cent of people living downtown now support such an expansion.

On Monday, he called out island residents specifically for opposing the expansion. “There’s 260 squatters on the island that are paying $1 a year for 99 years … wouldn’t everyone in this room, with those hard-working nurses that bust their back, want $1 a year for their own little personal island that no one touches,” said Ford.

The premier was referring to land arrangements with the city where homeowners pay a one-time fee to lease property that currently ranges from $60,000 to $78,000.

Around 700 residents live in 262 homes in the small communities on both Wards and Algonquin Islands.

“I think he’s got his facts entirely wrong,” said Island resident Rick Simon.

“We aren’t going to worry about the one percenters that affect the 99 per cent of the rest of the population. We’re going to move forward with the island airport with cooperation with the federal government,” added Ford.

Simon has been living on the island since 1967. He said the threats to expand the airport have come and gone and the residents remain. He doesn’t believe it will happen anytime soon.

“I assume that he wants to get rid of us so that there weren’t maybe people here criticizing his land deals that he made,” said Simon. “I don’t know about the spa company who doesn’t really have that name that has a longer lease than I have.”

Simon is one of the many voices in opposition to airport expansion, a hotly contested debate, that dates back to the ‘No Jets TO’ campaign over a couple of decades.

“It’s unfortunate. I actually like Doug Ford and it unfortunate. I guess he wants something and he thinks we’re opposition to it,” added another island resident Michael Harris.

The airport is governed by a tripartite deal between the City of Toronto, Toronto Port Authority and the federal government. In 2024, the city voted to extend the deal for another 12 years, starting in 2033.