On this day in Montreal — October 4, 1975: Montreal-Mirabel International Airport, known simply as Mirabel, officially opens. Close to 40,000 hectares of rich farmland is expropriated to build it. Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau initiated the project in order to replace the airport that would later be named after him – Dorval Airport. Many ambitious plans for Mirabel never came to fruition, including a high-speed rail system that would link it to Montreal. Mirabel welcomed its last interna