report. It was billed as the first independent study done on the Pickering lands in a generation. Dr. Polonsky's first recommendation: Undertake the analysis required to make a decision on the need for an airport. KPMG was then commissioned by Transport Canada to complete a million-dollar "Pickering Lands Aviation Sector Analysis". This report was expected to be released in 2019 and will be the basis for a decision on the timing of a potential future airport. History 1969–1975 In the late 1960s, the federal government (which then owned and operated all major Canadian airports) studied expanding Malton Airport (now Toronto Pearson International Airport) to accommodate the tremendous growth in air passenger traffic anticipated in the coming decades. Strong local-community opposition to Malton's expansion caused the government to decide instead, in December 1968, to build a second Toronto airport. An Airport Planning Team spent 1969 evaluating nearly 60 sites within a 50-nautical-mile radius of Malton. The final contenders were Lake Scugog, Lake Simcoe, Orangeville, and Guelph, with the Guelph site ranked highest. In May 1971, in a Toronto-Centred Region plan, the provincial government announced its intention to direct new growth to the east of Toronto. This eastern emphasis became a cause of friction between the federal and provincial governments: the federal government preferred an airport location to the west, the province wanted an eastern site. In an attempt to resolve the impasse, the federal government proposed a plan to build three new airports instead of one. Two small 2,000–4,000 hectare (5,000–10,000 acre) airports would be built to handle short-haul traffic, on sites previously eliminated as unsuitable for a large airport. The first of these small airports would be constructed in the west, in Beverly Township, near Hamilton, followed immediately by the second one in the east, in Pickering Township. A third airport – a large 6,000–8,000 hectare (15,000–20,000 acre) international airport – would be built later, at an undetermined location. In December 1971, the province told the federal government that it could not afford to service both a Beverly and a Pickering site and that it had committed funds to build sewer and water facilities only to the east of Toronto. The federal government abandoned its plan for three new airports and decided instead to build one large international airport east of Toronto. On March 2, 1972, the federal Minister of Transport announced the construction of a "major airport" in Pickering,