Althia Raj: Mark Carney’s flight plan means turbulence for Canadian air travellers - Toronto Star

Pension funds seek the stable returns that airports provide, but it's less clear what passengers get out of privatization, Althia Raj writes.

Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during the second day of the inaugural Canada Investment Summit in Toronto on Sept. 15, 2026.

Althia Raj is a national politics columnist for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @althiaraj

It’s a flight plan Prime Minister Mark Carney may come to wish he’d never filed.

This week, Carney announced Canada would seek private investors for the country’s four largest airports — a measure that was floated in last fall’s budget, but faced no public consultations and was not part of the Liberals’ election platform.

The news hijacked the mostly glowing coverage of Carney’s Canada Investment Summit, a conference bringing together the world’s largest investors and organized by the American firm e2K (which the Prime Minister’s Office said was chosen to “bring the expertise needed to host such an event”). 

Significant tax changes and investment news were overshadowed by the airport announcement, which blindsided MPs the night before.