'Disappointed' Doug Ford spoke privately with Mark Carney after decision blocking Billy Bishop expansion

“The timing of the byelection call did not seem coincidental,” said a source close to Ford, who, like others interviewed for this story, spoke confidentially to discuss internal deliberations and confirmed the premier and the prime minister conversed over the weekend.

Carney’s office did not dispute that there was a conversation between the two leaders, who chat often.

As first reported by the Star on Friday, the federal government clipped the wings of the premier’s vision for an expanded Billy Bishop within hours of receiving public survey results showing 87 per cent of 87,000 respondents were opposed to the idea.

The move blindsided Queen’s Park. Ford and Carney, who have enjoyed warm relations since the prime minister succeeded Justin Trudeau in March 2025, had even shaken hands to informally seal the deal at the premier’s Etobicoke home.

“It’s Billy Bishop for Alto, that was always the understanding,” said one insider, referring to the federal government’s proposed high-speed rail line linking Toronto to Quebec City.

The controversial 300 km/h train slashing through farmland in rural Ontario ridings represented by Tory MPPs has always been hard to sell to Ford’s caucus.

While the premier expressed his disappointment, he is mindful that Carney, who also called byelections Sunday for Quebec and British Columbia, has electoral considerations in the waterfront riding of Beaches-East York.

The Liberals were apparently spooked by a Star report that Mike Layton, a popular former city councillor and son of the late federal New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton, was considering a run for the NDP in a seat the Grits are desperate to hold. The governing party is fielding Tanveer Shahnawaz, a little-known aide to former MP Nate Erskine-Smith.

An NDP source, speaking confidentially to recount strategic conversations, said the party was planning to make Billy Bishop a top issue during the byelection.

Even now, the New Democrats intend to emphasize the airport because it’s not clear the Liberals have completely ruled out the plan, added the source, describing it at a mere “pause.”

Local Liberal MPs, who represent 23 of Toronto’s 24 ridings, were getting an earful on Billy Bishop long before the government survey came out.

MP Chi Nguyen (Spadina-Harbourfront) chalked up the government’s decision to the overwhelming response from tens of thousands of Torontonians, which she said sent a “clear signal.”

“It was very clear that the residents didn’t feel that a 10-million passenger, 900-metre (runway) expansion could be done in a way that wouldn’t jeopardize the things that people really value on the waterfront,” said Nguyen, adding “it just didn’t make any sense” with housing plans and other federal investments in the area.

“No one could provide a good rationale, and the work hadn’t been done yet to prove that this would actually be possible and viable.”

Acknowledging Toronto Liberal MPs received “a lot of flak for not coming out more strongly, more quickly” in opposition to Ford’s idea, Nguyen said the caucus wanted to let the process unfold while pushing internally for the government to accept Torontonians’ feedback.

MP Danielle Martin (University-Rosedale) said after Ford usurped the City of Toronto’s place in the tripartite agreement governing Billy Bishop, local members wanted to ensure their constituents were heard.

“All of us as Toronto MPs felt the weight and the importance of making sure that those concerns were transmitted,” said Martin, who was elected in an April byelection.

“I have been hearing from the outset during the byelection and throughout the summer from my own constituents about their long list of deep concerns and I think those concerns were heard.”

One Liberal MP, who spoke confidentially to speak freely, said a smaller Billy Bishop revamp in the future could be possible if it complements plans to expand Pearson International Airport and the Alto high-speed rail project.

Another Liberal MP said the province had made a “ham-fisted” effort to push the project through without a business case that was hard to justify.

“Even business Liberals were skittish.”

A third Liberal source, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said the Carney government timed its retreat from the expansion to avoid the issue looming over the Beaches—East York byelection.

However, they tied the actual decision to the widespread opposition in the city.

But a senior government official insisted the byelection wasn’t a factor. Rather, they said, it was the overwhelming opposition in the survey results, which “couldn’t be clearer.”