Prime Minister Mark Carney is keeping his distance from a contentious plan to expand Toronto's Billy Bishop island airport, saying he has not yet decided whether he supports it and will wait for consultations before taking a position. His careful stance sets up a potential clash with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has been pushing hard to enlarge the waterfront airport and open it to jets.
Asked directly about the expansion at an announcement, Carney was unequivocal about his neutrality. He said that he personally had not formed an opinion on the airport, and that he wanted to be absolutely clear on that point. The comment was notable because Ford, when he unveiled his vision for the airport, had suggested the federal government was already on board with the project.
Ford's plan is ambitious and has moved quickly. The premier wants to expand Billy Bishop to allow jets to fly from it, and he has declared the site a special economic zone in order to fast-track the work. Last week, his government went a step further, passing legislation that takes over the city of Toronto's role in the airport, reshaping who controls its future.
Under that new arrangement, the airport would be governed by three partners: the province, the federal government and the Toronto Port Authority, a federal agency. That structure puts Ottawa squarely in the middle of the decision, and Carney acknowledged as much, noting that the federal government is very much an actor in what happens next at the airport.
The prime minister framed his hesitation around the breadth of concerns the project raises. He pointed to issues of transportation and economics, but also to the impact on neighbourhoods, quality of life, environmental concerns, parks and other elements, saying the federal consultation process would be used to weigh them. He added that details on that process would be coming soon, with residents to be heard over the summer.
Critics and officials have pressed for specifics that they say are still missing. Questions raised included what the business plan actually is, whether the airport would aim to reach 10 million passengers, how many flights it would handle, how long the runway would be and who would pay for what. Toronto's mayor said plainly that she had not seen any of the plans, even as the legislation advanced.
Some details have begun to emerge. The Toronto Port Authority previously told CBC News that the runway would be lengthened by an extra 600 metres, on top of an extension at each end that was already required, and supporters say the expansion would create thousands of jobs. Ford, meanwhile, sought to reassure residents on a related point, saying that despite the new powers he has no interest in taking over the Toronto Island itself, insisting he loves the island and would simply leave it alone.
Since then, the dispute has sharpened into a public row over secrecy at City Hall. Toronto's mayor has condemned the Toronto Port Authority after being asked, along with city staff, to sign a non-disclosure agreement simply to discuss the airport's future. She said she refused and never would, questioning why the head of Canada's largest city should have to sign such an agreement and asking pointedly whether, if the plan is confidential, the agency really does not trust her. The mayor said the city remains in the dark, having not seen the secret plan, a consultant report on it, the basis for its expected four to five billion dollar cost, or how it would be paid for.
The friction traces back to a meeting in mid-May of a provincial heritage, infrastructure and cultural policy committee, where the Port Authority's president and chief executive, RJ Steenstra, said the province and the federal government had been shown aspects of the expansion plan while the city had not, describing it at the time as a scheduling issue. Meetings with the city followed earlier this month, but the mayor said they yielded no meaningful detail, leaving basic questions such as the precise length of the runway unanswered. Even city staff who did sign the agency's non-disclosure agreement, she said, were not shown the report she has been trying to read.
For some councillors, the demand stirred memories of the failed Sidewalk Labs project, where similar non-disclosure agreements were sought, with the result that those who signed received a full briefing while those who did not were left with little. The standoff is unfolding after the province moved to take over the city's stake in the tripartite agreement governing the airport and to expropriate some of its land for the expansion, even as the city pursues major redevelopment of the surrounding waterfront. City staff have found that the airport plan, whatever its final form, could affect thousands of potential housing units, prompting one official to call it one of the biggest messes the city has faced in a long time. The Toronto Port Authority declined to answer questions about the matter.
The dispute has continued to play out in public, with the premier mounting a fresh defence of the project. Speaking in Thunder Bay, Doug Ford cited recent internal government polling that he said showed a majority of Ontarians, more than 70 percent, back the expansion, arguing that people want the convenience and lower costs of the island airport rather than having to travel out to Pearson. Prime Minister Mark Carney, for his part, reiterated that he has not made up his mind about the potential expansion.
City councillor Josh Matlow rejected the way the consultation is being handled, calling it an absurd way to weigh such a consequential proposal. He argued that there is a public consultation under way on a plan that nobody in the public has actually seen, warning of the big impacts the project would have on the city's waterfront. Contacted again, the Toronto Port Authority said it would not comment on the mayor's statements about the non-disclosure agreement, in line with its position that it is limiting what it says out of respect for the consultation process.