Ontario Premier Doug Ford has announced he intends to use controversial, sweeping powers to designate Toronto’s Billy Bishop airport a special economic zone, where provincial and municipal laws can be bypassed.

The premier has talked for weeks about “taking over” control of the island airport from the City of Toronto to extend its runway and allow larger jets to operate straight into the downtown. He’s said he will compensate the city for lost revenue.

“We’re unlocking Billy Bishop Airport’s full potential by expanding the airport so we can bring cheaper flight options, more routes and more convenience to the millions of people from across Ontario who use this airport every year,” Ford said in a statement.

“With an upgraded airport on the waterfront, Toronto and Ontario will be able to compete with world-class cities across the globe, supporting tourism and business travel across Ontario and creating thousands of new jobs for Ontario workers.”

The plan hasn’t been met with enthusiasm from Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, who has pointed out the city already had a long-term plan for the airport that the provincial government looks to be scrapping.

Ford said he thought the “lefties down at the City of Toronto” weren’t receptive to his recently drawn together plan.

“In this case, the City of Toronto was very close-minded; they don’t want economic growth, they don’t want more jobs,” the premier said. “They’d rather keep everything status quo.”

Critics, however, say the premier is “obsessed” with Toronto — at the expense of the rest of the province.

“The premier is focused on all the wrong things,” Ontario Liberal MPP John Fraser said.

“For those people (who lost their jobs) in Algoma, Billy Bishop doesn’t matter. For those people (protesting) on the front lawn, that airport doesn’t matter to them.”

The province plans to introduce legislation to take over the airport, as well as designate it a special economic zone.

The tool the Ford government is using to speed through the takeover and expansion of Billy Bishop sparked major controversy when it was introduced.

The provincial government rushed its Bill 5, the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, through the legislature last year to give itself the power to declare special economic zones.

Those areas, which can be decided by Ford and his cabinet, would see environmental, provincial and local laws suspended to fast-track projects.

Ford insisted that suspending existing laws — including environmental rules — won’t have a negative impact on the area.

“We always focus on environmental issues,” the premier said on Monday morning. “We take all that into consideration. But we can’t just sit back.”

Ford said the federal government was supportive of the move.

Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner suggested the premier’s record made it unlikely he would look after the environment as he expands the airport.

“Has this government had any history of looking at environmental checks and caring? No,” he said. “This government consistently has been undermining environmental protections over and over again.”

Throughout the process — which saw large protests and demonstrations from First Nations — the government said the law was vital to bring mining developments to the mineral-rich Ring of Fire area of northern Ontario.

It was framed by the province in the context of the U.S.-Canada tariff war as necessary to push past slow approvals and red tape.

Ford had also suggested he would designate other projects, like nuclear reactors or a tunnel under Highway 401, as special economic zones.

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