Plane Talk

Mirabel Airport was the airport of the future. Provided, of course, that the future included shorter-haul jets, supersonic aircraft, and Montreal's continued status as the economic engine of Canada. Oh, and a rail link and eight-lane highway fifty miles out of downtown.

That future never arrived; it was clear even before Mirabel opened that it was never going to arrive. Which inconvenient facts didn't prevent Ottawa from expropriating entire villages for expansion that never came.

But the locals will be able to buy their land back.

And the white elephant will come closer to being off Montrealers' backs.

Mirabel is an expensive reminder that no government should ever assume anything about the future.