Ontario Premier Doug Ford is seeking Prime Minister Mark Carney’s support for several plans for the province, including his desire to build a tunnel under Highway 401.
In a letter sent to the prime minister by Ford on Monday, the premier outlined a series of proposed Ontario projects that he described as “nation-building.”
“At the March 21, 2025, First Ministers’ Meeting, you made a promise to Premiers to take urgent action to cut red tape and streamline approvals for nation-building projects,” Ford wrote.
“At that same meeting, you asked Premiers to identify which nation-building projects in their province or territory they would recommend that the federal government prioritize.”
Today, I wrote to Prime Minister @MarkJCarney outlining how Ontario and the federal government can work together to unleash our full economic potential.
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) May 5, 2025
With President Trump taking aim at Canada’s economy, it can’t be business as usual. pic.twitter.com/RfBwKe0yET
Ford went on to ask Carney to prioritize projects like the developing the Ring of Fire, including supporting critical mineral mining projects and infrastructure, and nuclear energy generation to build things like small modular reactors and large-scale facilities.
Also on the list was Ford’s controversial plans to construct a tunnel under Highway 401, dubbed a driver and transit tunnel expressway, which he told the prime minister would help “to improve our economic competitiveness by getting goods and services to market sooner.”
Opposition critics have ridiculed the tunnel idea as being a “fantasy,” saying it would cost tens of billions of dollars and not truly address gridlock.
“Oh my goodness,” NDP Leader Marit Stiles said to reporters at Queen’s Park on Monday. “Honestly, this is outrageous and ridiculous. At this time when workers in Windsor, in Oshawa, across this province, their jobs are being cut, they are losing their jobs right now, Doug Ford is prioritizing his fantasy tunnel.”
“He’s going to tie up billions of dollars in feasibility studies to build this tunnel to nowhere.”
Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie also chimed in, and said that the cost of the tunnel “could bankrupt this province.”
“I’m not sure the fantasy tunnel will be on the prime minister’s list of priorities,” she said. “It’s a 40-year project, frankly, that will not address traffic gridlock or congestion today. And quite frankly, when you think about it, by the time that tunnel is complete, who knows if we’re even driving vehicles or there will be alternative methods.”
Ford also asked Carney to invest in his “GO 2.0” plan in the letter, which seeks to expand train service in the Greater Golden Horseshoe with new lines and all-day service for Milton and Kitchener.
“Your government has our full support to urgently invest in and get shovels in the ground on new nation-building infrastructure, including pipelines, highways, railways, seaports and airports that will help Canadian goods reach new customers in new markets,” Ford wrote.
“For our part, Ontario is ready to work with federal, provincial and municipal partners to establish new energy corridors for pipelines, rail lines, transmission lines and other critical infrastructure.”
Ford closed his letter by “urging” the federal government to honour its commitment to eliminate all federal internal trade barriers by Canada Day.
