Eleven Progressive Conservative MPPs aligned with Ontario Premier Doug Ford have publicly criticized Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Alto high-speed rail project following the federal rejection of the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport expansion plan.
The Alto project proposes a 300 km/h train route connecting Toronto to Quebec City. This rail corridor would pass through farmland in rural Ontario constituencies represented by Conservative MPPs, generating longstanding unease within Ford’s caucus. The project’s political support in Ontario was closely tied to a tacit agreement linking its approval with federal backing for the Billy Bishop airport expansion.
Mark Carney cancelled the Billy Bishop
island airport expansion plan before it could have a political impact on his Liberal government. This move ended the informal deal between Carney and Ford, who had previously agreed to support each other’s infrastructure priorities, including a handshake confirmation at Ford’s home in Etobicoke for Alto and airport initiatives.
A senior Ontario government official confidentially confirmed, “It’s Billy Bishop for Alto, that was always the understanding.” The break in this linkage prompted the MPPs to voice open criticism of the rail project that had been primarily private until now.
