Ontario appears to be reconsidering its support for the federal government's high-speed rail project, in a political shift with breaking implications for one of the country's most ambitious infrastructure plans. The move comes after Ottawa decided not to back the province's bid to expand Billy Bishop Airport in Toronto, turning a dispute over an island airport into a threat to a major rail line.
Two sources with knowledge of the discussions say the Ontario government was surprised when the federal government announced it would not support Premier Doug Ford's proposal to expand Toronto's island airport for jets. The surprise, according to those sources, stemmed from what they described as an understanding between the two governments that has now been upended.
That understanding, the sources say, took the form of a tentative agreement: if Ottawa backed jets landing at Billy Bishop Airport, then Ontario would support the federal high-speed rail project between Ontario and Quebec, known as ALTO. With the airport expansion rejected, the state of Ontario's ALTO support is now in jeopardy, linking the fate of the two projects.
The pushback has already begun to take concrete form. This evening, 11 Ontario MPs issued a statement calling out the project, saying that in the case of ALTO, too many questions remain unanswered and too many voices have been ignored. If ALTO is to proceed, they said, local voices impacted by the project deserve to see their feedback reflected in its planning, route selection and delivery.
The statement marks a notable shift in tone from the Ontario government, which had previously been on good terms with the federal side. Observers noted that Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier Doug Ford had been getting along well, making the sudden friction over ALTO a sign of how quickly the airport decision has strained the relationship.
Ontario has continued to press its case on the airport itself even as the rail dispute escalates. The province's transportation minister said the federal government had listened to a small group in Toronto opposed to the plan, and vowed that the province would continue to push forward on a modernization of the airport, urging Ottawa to keep considering the proposal.
The minister framed the airport expansion as being about giving travelers more options and about building big projects, the same argument the province has used throughout the fight. With ALTO's future now tied to that dispute, the standoff over Billy Bishop has grown into a broader test of how far Ontario is willing to go in its disagreement with the federal government.