What People Have to Say About Canadian Government's High-Speed Rail Project
Here are excerpts of comments, viewpoints, research, and questions circulating on social media and elsewhere regarding the high-speed rail project. And day after day, the discussion deepens.
Going Through the Motions of Public Consultations
Someone writes: "I just participated in a virtual public consultation organized by Alto. I left with far more questions than answers."
Another writes: "Hello, I am writing to ask Alto to organize more in-person public consultation sessions in the form of general assemblies in communities along the study corridor. Many people find the current open house format difficult to understand, uninformative, and inaccessible. Please consider organizing sessions with clear presentations and a structured question-and-answer period so that communities have a real opportunity to participate actively."
And another writes: "I would like to share a thought: If the outcome of a consultation is predictable before it even begins, is it truly a consultation, or simply an attempt to create the illusion of public support for a decision that has already been made? I think it is essential to pay attention to how these decisions are presented, and not just to the decision itself."
A participant in a consultation in Vankleek Hill, a rural village of 1,781 people about 100 kilometres east of Ottawa told CBC Radio on March 21 that residents were really disappointed in the whole process. She said the set up was to divide people into smaller groups with Alto representatives to lead them through the consultation, but there was no centralized presentation of information. She added that the onus was on participants to ask questions, but when they did, the Alto representatives had very few answers.
She said that it seems for Alto, the consultation is merely to check off a box, rather than actually listening to people. The way Alto is conducting itself is alien to her, when as a small business owner, to get a loan from a bank requires providing full information, she added. The onus is on Alto to prove to the Canadian people that they should be supporting this project, she concluded.
A resident of South Frontenac Township, just north of Kingston, also spoke to CBC Radio about how the community is organizing itself to "help our area residents understand this project, be educated about this project, and sort of bring a voice to their concerns through social media and other engagement. Because Alto's engagement process has really fallen short in rural areas."
She pointed that Alto's consultation process is primarily online, but this is problem for rural areas where there are people who still have unreliable internet service. She added that at first, Alto was "only going to have in-person sessions in the cities that would receive a station or a stop. And so we had to fight and ask and plead through social media to have a session, an in-person session in the very area that's going to be affected, you know, that would impact people's lives and livelihoods. So now that was agreed to, and they were smart enough to host a session here. And we were invited as a committee to be present. And when a resident asked an Alto representative how are you recording all of our concerns? And they were told, 'We have excellent memories.' And that is not enough in a democratic process. We have had to become sort of armchair experts on all kinds of issues in the last three months in order to be able to participate in the consultation process."
An Alto spokesperson, Benoit Bordeaux, spoke to CBC Radio immediately after the residents of Vankleek Hill and South Frontenac. He said that Alto's main takeaway from the consultations is that "people were extremely curious about this project." He described the project as having "three realities." "There is an urban reality where people are basically the biggest question is where exactly is the station going to be located? There is a suburban reality where people are asking themselves and asking us, how am I going to get to the station? And there's this rural reality." When asked by the CBC Radio host about the lack of information or that the format of consultations was not informative or suitable, Bordeaux claimed that the lack of information is due to it being early going in the process, implying that things like a business plan simply do not exist at this point. Rather than assuaging anyone's concerns about the lack of information after one year, he said that the fact that the consultations are "already happening" shows that Alto is taking initiative. In the meantime, in-person consultations would continue until the end of the month, with the online aspect of that open until April 24. He did not commit to making any changes to the format of the consultation in the meantime. After reviewing the results of its consultations, Bordeaux said that toward the end of the year, Alto will come back to the communities to consult once again with more refined information to present.
The fact that even before the first round of consultations were finished, Alto had dismissively decided that Canadians and Quebeckers' concerns about the project should fit into three neat realities does not bode well for further consultations.
Community Safety
The same resident of Vankleek Hill spoke about how the community's safety concerns are yet to be addressed. She stated that "one of our big concerns as a community member is this train is high speed. At 300 kilometres an hour, it has no level crossing. You cannot have a road where it goes. So it's going to dead end roads throughout the community. They're not going to obviously be able to afford to provide an over or underpass for every community road that currently exists. So what is the interval that those over or underpasses are going to occur at? They couldn't tell us that. So what does that then mean for things like emergency services? How long is it? How long is it going to take EMS to get to a farm that is burning down or somebody who needs to get to a hospital, which already are far apart in a rural area?"
Environmental Impacts
Regarding environmental impact studies, residents of Vankleek Hill were told that "none of those studies are going to be done until once the route is actually chosen" which they found to be backwards. Furthermore, residents question, "Why do we need to have the environmental, ecological, social damage when we have a VIA Rail line that runs between Ottawa and Montreal, which is mostly owned by VIA?" Given that VIA is part of the consortium that makes up Alto, residents also pointed out that use of existing rail lines across the whole corridor should be looked into, such as twinning track, as well as passing legislation that provides passenger rail priority on tracks shared with freight trains, something that has been done in Europe and elsewhere. Presently, VIA operates its passenger trains on lines owned by CN, causing its trains to be constantly delayed in favour of freight trains.
The project crosses vast areas of wetlands and alvars (a limestone plain with thin or no soil that supports rare flora and fauna). These habitats are critical breeding grounds for endangered species, including the rare Loggerhead shrike. While local land acquisitions have protected small patches of these habitats, the overall landscape remains vulnerable. Approximately 75 per cent of Canada's Loggerhead shrikes live in this region.
In addition to habitat loss, this project will negatively impact the migration of small animals, birds, and even plants which are moving north due to climate change. Small birds will be particularly vulnerable to the degradation caused by this line. Deer, wolves, coyotes, fishers and cougars are just a few examples of other larger animals that will be affected.
Blocking this migratory corridor reflects exactly what will happen to people. If Route 41 is the only road in our district with a viaduct, it means that traffic will be completely blocked. Throughout the township, this will affect emergency vehicles and school buses, not to mention people doing their shopping.
Biodiversity Protection
The southern corridor of the Alto project would cross the Frontenac Arch Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site -- one of only 19 in Canada -- which encompasses the country's most biodiverse region. Five forest areas converge there. The Frontenac Arch Biosphere is the last intact forest corridor between the Canadian Shield and the Adirondack Mountains -- a vital land passage for wildlife crossing eastern North America.
Plummeting Land Values
The route proposed by Alto is already causing problems by driving down land values in the area it has designated as a potential corridor. Land values are collapsing. A small farm in this area, near Ottawa, recently sold for approximately $100,000 less than it did a few months ago. Consequently, there appear to be grounds for legal action against the Crown corporation, and this possibility is being considered.
Who Will Benefit from High-Speed Rail?
Someone says, "I recently joined this movement (against the high-speed rail line) because the installation of the rail will destroy farm land by appropriation and will be a cost to every family in Canada, while only serving patrons going to or from Montreal and Toronto. If the train is electric, it will be a huge load on the power network. Of the people paying for it, 99 per cent will gain zero for their contribution. I think the high-speed rail should be situated between the east and the west 401 highway lanes to prevent appropriation of private land. That or nothing!"
Project of National Interest?
Someone states, "Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon needs to hear from everyone about how the high-speed rail project, presented as a project of 'national interest,' will actually divide Canadians, not only because of the 3.6-metre fences and dead-end roads, but also by creating inequalities between those who can use the rail and those who cannot. There are only seven stops: Quebec City, Trois-Rivières, Montreal, Laval, Ottawa, Peterborough, and Toronto. Please share this message with citizens of other provinces, because we are all paying for this project, but only some will be able to use it."
One person told CBC Radio that the enormous cost of the high-speed rail project has to be justified. "This is a project that, despite what they say, does not serve all Canadians. I would like them to justify $90 billion. It is $2,500 per taxpayer, and it apparently is not going to break even for 44 years. So I would like them to justify that cost."
Possible Cost
One person points out: "On February 26, in the House of Commons during third reading of Bill C-15, Scott Reid, MP for Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston, estimated that the cost to every Canadian family of four would be $9,000. If you don't live in one of these cities, you won't derive any benefit, and especially if you live in BC or the Maritimes. How can this be a project of national interest if it will actually harm many, many people and animals, too?"
Living Environment
From Ontario, one person writes, "The Township of Tyendinaga is not just our place of residence, it's our home. It's where nature and wildlife are an integral part of our daily lives. The idea of seeing the Alto high-speed train built so close to our home is deeply upsetting. It would forever alter the landscape we love and threaten the natural beauty and wildlife that make this place so precious to us!"
Dismemberment of Communities
A Quebecker raises the alarm about Alto, recounting their experience with previous government megaprojects: "Many are still unaware of the true danger. Perhaps the high-speed rail line will never materialize in its promised form. Perhaps it will be delayed, scaled back, distorted, or dragged out for years through studies, consultations, and political promises. But the real damage can begin long before the first train: through legislation, expropriations, the transfer of land to the state, the destruction of farms, the dismemberment of communities, and the reduction of the citizen to a mere bureaucratic obstacle. Once the state seizes land, it almost never returns it, except perhaps after decades of legal battles and humiliations, as the Mirabel story has already demonstrated. This is not progress. This is power. This is a state telling you that your sacrifice is 'for the public good' and that you are expected to shut up and pay up."
Steel for Railway Tracks Will Have to Be Imported
Someone writes, "Recently, in my research, I discovered that Canada does not have the steel needed to build railway tracks. The steel must be imported from the United States, Spain, South Korea, China, and several other countries. With tariffs, the costs skyrocket. This will certainly increase the cost of this project. Not to mention the carbon footprint generated by simply transporting the metal to Canada. Canada no longer manufactures steel for the railway sector and does not produce high-speed locomotives. In response to a question before the Senate Committee on National Finance on March 16, Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said he has asked Alto to consult with Canadian steel producers to determine what would be needed to restart domestic production."
Need to Modernize Existing Rail Networks
Still another person comments, "Recent research has shown that high-frequency rail systems can be more efficient and cost-effective than high-speed rail systems for short distances. Our investments would undoubtedly be better spent modernizing our rail networks across Canada to improve access to transportation for all Canadians. Public transit should be prioritized. Door-to-door travel time matters, not just travel time from one station to another. Have you ever heard of high-speed trains staying within budget or on schedule? Toronto's last train cost $684 million per kilometre."
Exhaustion by Government
"The government is exhausting us -- mentally, physically, and emotionally. We're fed up with this senseless spending of our hard-earned money. Don't hesitate to speak out against it."
Speaking in Our Own Name
"Say NO to Alto's high-speed rail. Mirabel has already suffered
expropriations and large-scale government projects. Land has been lost,
lives disrupted, and yet the project failed. This project will cause
enormous damage to our region and everywhere it is slated to pass, from
Quebec City to
Montreal, continuing through Ottawa, Peterborough and Toronto. Roads
cut off, rivers and streams blocked, farmland disrupted, homes blocked,
wildlife blocked, travel to work, school, appointments, shopping,
visiting friends and family blocked, emergency services blocked,
municipal services blocked,
mail and package delivery blocked: everything will be blocked. We will
all be cut off from the world, physically, in one way or another. The
railway is entirely elevated and fenced off. Nothing can pass through,
only over or under, where they deem it necessary.
"And the benefit? Expropriation if your land is needed by them; Otherwise, you'll still suffer the negative consequences. There's no point in trying to sell. We already have bus, train, and plane connections between these cities. Improving or repairing this infrastructure would be a better use of taxpayers' money. Not this fiasco... No, no! No Alto!"
This article was published in
Volume 56 Number 15 - April 9, 2026
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/TML2026/Articles/T560155.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca