You misunderstand. SeanTrans said "aren't a lot of those Northern Ontario runs dependent on connection traffic, or are most just heading to YYZ?", asking if the Northern Ontario routes are dependent on connections in Toronto, not in the Soo.
Sean's question was ambiguous enough that I actually answered both interpretations of it first, before deciding I was being silly and settling on what I thought was the more obvious one. Oops.
At any rate, I think you're right about the other end of the connection: it's hard to get from Northern Ont. into the wider world without connecting through Pearson. (Bearskin rates are exorbitant; there's also one CRJ to Detroit that leaves one of the Sault Ste. Marie, MI airports each day.)
Westjet tried a daily flight between YYZ and the Soo (I love it... "YAM") and that failed. Soo airport also draws in many passengers from northern Michigan.
Almost, but not exactly. The Westjet flight went to Hamilton; this was before they moved into Pearson. I took it once; it was disasterous. Despite being marginally cheaper than AC, the extra travel time and hassle meant I would have been better off on Air Canada Jizz.
They also flew jets westbound from the Sault, to Winnipeg and on to Vancouver (I think). Nobody's tried that in a while. The company line after they pulled out was that 737s were too big for the run; if they'd had smaller planes, they'd go back in. (Which is easy to say when your business model calls for never, ever using anything other than 737s.)
The Pearson connection factor puts an upper limit on how much traffic Porter can handle from Northern Ontario. But one flight a day to each city? I bet Toronto proper could produce that much SLF.
Look at their route map, Bearskin is not a bush puddlejumping airline. You're showing your ugly Torontonian side.
Okay, okay, it was a moment of hyperbole. Real bush puddlejumping is on display
here. (You should come visit! Neat museum.)
My point really was that an alliance between Porter (refinement, service, ceci-n'est-pas-un-turboprop) and Bearskin (utility, ruggedness, curtain-for-a-cockpit-door) is hard to fathom for a company so brand-conscious as Porter.
And don't call me Torontonian! I just drove for a day to arrive back in the Sault for a tropical vacation. Any idea how much snow we have here? Why don't you call in the arrrrmyyyyy to plough your streets!