Prime Minister Mark Carney is not ruling out ever allowing jets to land at Toronto’s island airport, but he is focused for now on a broader transportation picture, he said Wednesday.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford had pitched a plan to expand Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport to allow jets to land, framing it as a way to boost the economy.
It was an idea Carney at one point said was “interesting,” but his government would later nix it.
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“Interesting’ has a quite wide range of meanings,” Carney noted at a press conference Wednesday when asked about it.
The land is governed as a tripartite agreement that was formerly between the city of Toronto, the federal government and the Toronto Port Authority, which is a federal agency, but the province took over the city’s role earlier this year.
Carney’s government rejected Ford’s vision last month following a consultation largely opposed to the idea of jets. The results of the consultation were clear, Carney said, but “forever is a long time.”
His government is developing a “comprehensive” approach to transportation, touching on airports large and regional as well as rail, he said.
“(Billy Bishop) is a small part of a much bigger puzzle, and we need to focus on those other puzzle pieces,” Carney said.
Sources who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to share internal discussions have said Ford and Carney had a handshake deal in which the province supported Carney’s high-speed rail plan in exchange for federal support for the airport expansion.
However, when asked Wednesday if he ever told Ford he would greenlight the project, Carney said no.
There was no consultation. It was rigged. The squatters in the cottages on the island were the only ones consulted. We certainly were not. The airport has been around for 90 years and needs to keep up with the city’s growth.
If someone lines Carneys pocket, he might change mind. Dude has no standards and is a total coward
Ben obviously has no idea what leadership is.
Ben,
Actually being a leader is making tough decision and living by them. Flip flopping daily and just going with the flow means someone has no values or standards
Ben you are a tool. Ford is building and paying for the largest subway expansion in Toronto’s history. He is also expanding the highest network. And wants to grow the island airport just as the city has grown around it these past 90 years. So yeah Ford is flexible.
Carney is flexible, exactly the opposite of Poilievre and the conservatives. This is what Canadians want from a leader.
Canada needs a modern Harry Truman. Enough of these low life parasitic politicians that line their pockets and look after themselves
Carney always sits on the fence, like the garden gnome ( same size too) he’s doing exactly the same with Trump.
C’mon people. Have a little sense. Sure, he has a nice resume and went to nice schools his parents could afford…the majority being foreign, but the world’s big problems are created by the experts in their fields of study.
Mark Carney may have been a good Central Banker, CEO et al., but he is a dudd as a politician that has done nothing but fail at everything while lying about things he has no cover of ignorance to excuse.
Maybe, depends, perhaps, if the time is right.
I guess Carney is open minded again after the Beaches by election. Total political games and nothing more. Hope Ford pulls support for the High Speed Light Rail Project.
Carney is a pos
Flip flop again. This isn’t leadership.