Prime Minister Mark Carney is not ruling out ever allowing jets to land at Toronto\u2019s island airport, but he is focused for now on a broader transportation picture, he said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
It was an idea Carney at one point said was \u201cinteresting,\u201d but his government would later nix it.<\/p>\n
\u201cInteresting\u2019 has a quite wide range of meanings,\u201d Carney noted at a press conference Wednesday when asked about it.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s role earlier this year.<\/p>\n
Carney\u2019s government rejected Ford\u2019s vision last month following a consultation largely opposed to the idea of jets. The results of the consultation were clear, Carney said, but \u201cforever is a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
His government is developing a \u201ccomprehensive\u201d approach to transportation, touching on airports large and regional as well as rail, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Billy Bishop) is a small part of a much bigger puzzle, and we need to focus on those other puzzle pieces,\u201d Carney said.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s high-speed rail plan in exchange for federal support for the airport expansion.<\/p>\n
However, when asked Wednesday if he ever told Ford he would greenlight the project, Carney said no.<\/p>\n