Charlie would you kindly please use a microphone when you sit in on those meetings because you can aim it at the front and we could hear them better I had to skip those videos because I couldn't hear the representative speaking
Fredericton Mayor “potential candidate” John Reid (aka “Concrete
Genius”) is at the library handing out his flyer. He’s the guy running
on a building bunkers for when the Mactaquac Dam gets nuked. This is his
actual campaign flyer and bunker plans:
Farmers facing land access requests from Alto train proponent
April 16|
Duration 2:31
Alto,
the Crown corporation proposing a high-speed rail service straddling
Quebec and Ontario, is hoping to conduct environmental surveys along the
corridor of the proposed line. Cameron Mahler spoke to a farmer who is
worried about what this could mean for his land.
Farmers
and rural landowners in eastern Ontario have started receiving land
access requests from Alto, the Crown corporation behind Canada’s
proposed high-speed rail line, and that has some on guard.
Marcus Haefele,
who farms more than 1,000 hectares of land near Vankleek Hill, said he
received three letters from Alto on the same day. They want to conduct
field studies on different parts of his family’s land, including a field
where he recently built a $7 million chicken barn.
He said they're looking for access over the next three years, "from 8 a.m. to midnight."
The letters say Alto would provide 48 hours' notice of its arrival, but Haefele said the details are still murky.
“They're not really indicating exactly what kind of studies they want to do,” he said.
Haefele says he's received three letters from Alto asking permission to access parts of his family's land. (Cameron Mahler/CBC)
The
letters outline a range of possible activities, from soil and
vegetation sampling to drone filming and installing temporary monitoring
equipment, Haefele said.
Timing is also an issue for Haefele —
planting season is just weeks away. “That can potentially be very
dangerous to have someone running around in there,” he said.
Haefele
said he’s worried the land surveys might be signaling something bigger,
including the potential expropriation of his land.
“Receiving a
notice makes me very wary,” he said, adding that it “gives me the
feeling that it will be installed in my backyard.”
Saint-Pierre
said his members have environmental and economic concerns, mainly the
effects of clearing large corridors of forest and farmland.
“The
[potential] impacts are significant,” he said. “And we have not really
seen any feedback from Alto as to how they’re going to compensate this.”
Saint-Pierre
said members don’t feel like there’s anything for them to gain,
particularly for rural members that likely won’t use the service.
They are also worried land survey requests are a first step toward land acquisition.
“There is a significant distress of people who are being told, 'We may need your land,'” he said.
Martin
Imbleau is the president and CEO of Alto. He says the Crown corporation
would rather purchase land but has the option to expropriate if
landowners are reluctant to part with their properties. (CBC)
However, in aninterview with CBC’s Ottawa Morning
last month, Alto’s CEO Martin Imbleau said expropriation would be a
last resort and “the intent is to have willing-seller, willing-buyer
agreements.”
“We will need to buy significant pieces of land. We’re talking about thousands of properties,” he said.
But if landowners are reluctant to sell, “there [is], of course, some recourse with the expropriation process.”
LISTEN | Imbleau's full interview:
Ottawa Morning19:41
Alto nearing end of public consultation on high-speed rail route
Martin Imbleau, the CEO of the crown corporation, recaps what he’s heard from Canadians so far.
In
a Wednesday statement to CBC, Alto said the surveys are part of early
planning work needed to assess environmental, economic and health
impacts of the rail line’s potential route.
The Crown corporation said the field studies are entirely voluntary, meaning no surveys will be done without permission.
Alto said that receiving a land entry request does not necessarily mean the property will need to be acquired for the project.
For now, Haefele said he doesn’t plan to allow access.
Cameron
is a journalist with CBC Ottawa who reports for digital, radio and
television. He's reported for CBC Kitchener-Waterloo and interned with
CBC Toronto’s enterprise unit. You can send Cameron story ideas at
cameron.mahler@cbc.ca.
For
over three decades, Marcus Haefele’s family has run Agri-Caledonia
Inc., a broiler chicken and cash crop farm between Alfred and Vankleek
Hill, Ont., east of Ottawa.
They farm about 1,090 hectares of land
and have two broiler barns, one of which they built two years ago with
an investment of $7 million.
Haefele says he’s worried the Alto
high-speed rail project, which will traverse this part of eastern
Ontario, will disrupt their land and destroy their business.
The
exact route for the high-speed rail project, which will connect Quebec
City and Toronto, has not been set. Alto has said it plans to decide by
the end of 2026.
In the meantime, Alto has been conducting field
studies on fish and wildlife habitats, soil and waterways along a broad
corridor that includes the United Counties of Prescott-Russell and
communities such as Alfred, Bourget, Hawkesbury and Vankleek Hill.
This week, Alto said it would start contacting selected property owners between Ottawa and Montreal to ask permission to enter their property.
That has Haefele worried about the future of his family's farm.
"They
would cut us off from roughly [405] hectares of farmland and would very
likely cut us off from access to the newly built chicken barn, as well
as our water source for both barns that we have, and for the farm," he
said.
Haefele says he attended a public consultation session on
the high-speed rail project in Vankleek Hill in January, but left with
more questions than answers.
No matter what, this is going to affect us.
- Andrea Glenn, Gibbs Honey
"Everybody
that was at the consultation from Alto was not able to answer any of
the hard-hitting questions that we have for them," he said, adding his
family has not yet received a request from Alto to access their farm.
"I
have no idea what my future has in store. Am I able to continue another
30 years like my parents did before me? I just simply don’t know,"
Haefele said.
Gibbs Honey, the third-generation apiary Andrea
Glenn runs with her husband in Vankleek Hill, is also within the study
corridor.
"No matter what, this is going to affect us," Glenn told CBC’s Ottawa Morning.
"What
we’ve built here is not easily replicable. We’re in one of the least
expensive parts of eastern Ontario, so if we were expropriated we would
not be able to afford to buy anything similar anywhere nearby."
Glenn,
who also attended the January session in Vankleek Hill, also said she
left with more questions than answers about the future of her 45-hectare
heritage farm.
Alto pledges ‘no-surprise environment’
Marc-Olivier
Ranger, Alto's chief of strategic policy, environment and partnerships,
says that's the kind of feedback the Crown corporation is seeking.
"They’re
actually telling us, 'Don’t go close to fragile ecosystems or habitats,
don’t cut our farmlands in two," he said Tuesday during a public
consultation in Gatineau, Que.
Ranger said Alto is committed to creating a "no-surprise environment" in which residents are both kept informed and heard.
"The
idea here is to listen to those concerns, take that back [to] the
designers, and at some point we'll come back with more details and a
more refined corridor," he said.
Ranger said most of the public feedback has been positive, and excitement over the project is growing.
"People are starting to believe that it will change the way they live, work and connect along the corridor," he said.
WATCH | Some of the mood in Gatineau on Tuesday:
People in Gatineau excited about the possibility of high-speed rail
March 24|
Duration 1:28
Alto, the group behind the high-speed rail project, held one of its last public consultations at Gatineau City Hall.
Glenn is not among them.
"There’s
a lot of other opportunities that we should be looking at prior to
committing to this, prior to expropriating people from their land," she
said.
Haefele agreed.
"Rural Canada is not here to be sacrificed for city-goers to have easier transportation," he said.
The
final in-person public consultation takes place March 25 in Stirling,
Ont., but people have until April 24 to share their feedback.
The federal government’s proposed Alto high-speed rail project was
the final topic of the Sunday, April 12 episode of Cross-Country Checkup
on CBC Radio.
Host Ian Hanomansing was joined by guests Michael Schabas, a rail
transportation consultant, and University of Toronto Professor of
Geography and Planning Matti Siemiatycki, who is also Director of the
Infrastructure Institute at the university. They discussed the estimated
$60 to $90 billion project, its risks, and benefits.
Siemiatycki emphasized that no route has yet been selected, but that a more northerly route is likely.
Chavez said it is possible for Alto to find creative solutions to
problems by looking at lessons learned from high-speed rail projects in
other countries.
“They just have to come around to discover it,” he said.
Hanomansing said federal Minister of Transport Steven MacKinnon had
been invited to appear on the program but was not available. Instead,
audio from a recent interview MacKinnon gave to CTV saying the
Conservative Party previously supported high-speed rail was played for
listeners.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is opposed to Alto and has said
he would cancel the Liberal government’s project if he were Prime
Minister.
Schabas said high-speed rail is financially viable.
“The secret about high-speed rail is it actually makes money,” he
remarked, and even projected an operating surplus for the service.
“I think we’re being over-ambitious,” said Siemiatycki. He referred
to a McGill University Study which alleges it would take 40 to 50 years
before any profit is realized.
“There’s still big questions about how many riders are actually going to use this system,” Siemiatycki said.
Chavez said that contrary to some opinions, high-speed rail is not
meant only for rich people and that it would also have significant
environmental benefits.
Siemiatycki said issues like health and defence are more important to Canadians at this time.
Among the callers to the program was Marcus Haefele, a farmer whose property is located between Vankleek Hill and Alfred.
“For the farm as a business, it could have a very detrimental impact,” Haefele said.
On high-speed rail lines, there are no level railroad crossings.
Roads and lanes either go over or under the tracks or are blocked off.
“We don’t know where any sort of crossings are going to be built,” Haefele said.
He said it is not as efficient to work small sections of field that
become disconnected after being bisected by a rail line. Haefele said he
is not looking to gain financially from the project but does not want
to see his land severed.
Haefele said he was disappointed with the Alto open house in Vankleek Hill on January 29.
“There was nobody there who was able to answer any questions,” he said.
“I haven’t had anybody get back to me,” Haefele added.
Schabas said Alto’s map has created unnecessary anxiety among
property owners. He does not understand why Alto began with an area that
includes most of southeastern Ontario.
He noted wider corridors were needed for some major highway projects
than what is needed for high-speed rail, and that the number of
properties which will be ultimately affected is much smaller than on the
current map.
“These types of concerns are really typical of high-speed rail
lines,” Siemiatycki said. He added that the concerns are also what can
increase the project cost. He said that in Britain, tunnels have had to
be built to accommodate bats and farm equipment.
Hanomansing said a survey done by Alto of 3,000 people indicated 69 per cent support for the project.
Siemiatycki said concerns over land expropriation and land can
ultimately derail a project or at least delay it. He said the government
and Alto need to be much more specific about a plan, which would also
reduce some of the concern.
Siemiatycki said existing rail or highway corridors are not straight
enough for high-speed lines but would like to see that possibility
reexamined or for the focus to instead be on better passenger rail
service in existing VIA Rail corridors. He added that originally, the
government was proposing to instead make improvements to existing rail
service but found it was not ambitious enough.
“I would like to see that reexamined,” Siemiatycki said. He noted the
cost of that alternative was projected at just $8 to $12 billion.
Chavez said such a plan is not feasible.
“The high-frequency rail plan VIA came up with, did not work,” said
Schabas. He said that in its development, there was no cooperation with
either CN or CP for entry into cities and coordination with their
freight traffic.
To listen to the complete segment on Alto which aired on the Sunday, April 12 edition of Cross Country Checkup, go to https://www.cbc.ca/radio/checkup.
Matti
Siemiatycki is Professor of Geography and Planning and Director of the
Infrastructure Institute at the University of Toronto. His work focuses
on delivering large-scale infrastructure projects, evidence based
infrastructure investment decisions, and the effective integration of
infrastructure into the fabric of cities. His recent studies explore
transit policy decisions, the value for money of public-private
partnerships, the development of innovative mixed-use buildings as a
form of place based infrastructure policy, and the diversity gap in the
infrastructure industry workforce. Matti consults widely on
infrastructure policy and is a frequent media commentator on
infrastructure and city planning.
Publications
Siemiatycki, M., Enright, T. and Valverde, M. (2019). The Gendered
Production of Infrastructure. Progress in Human Geography. First View
Online.
Van den Hurk, M. and Siemiatycki, M. (2018). Public–Private
Partnerships and the Design Process: Consequences for Architects and
City Building. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research.
42(4), 704-722.
Siemiatycki, M. (2015). Reflections on Twenty Years of Public-Private
Partnerships in Canada. Canadian Public Administration. 58(3). 343-362.
Siemiatycki, M. (2015). Mixing Public and Private Uses in the Same
Building: Opportunities and Barriers. Journal of Urban Design. 20(2),
230-250.
Education
Ph.D, University of British Columbia M.Sc, Oxford University B.A., Ryerson University
UPDATE: I AM ADDING A LINK TO THE DISCUSSION IN PARLIAMENT IN REGARDS TO THIS. THIS PRETTY MUCH PUTS IT ALL ON THE TABLE AS TO WHERE WE STAND RIGHT NOW.
I have been talking to multiple people over the last several days about the possible expropriations of land within Marmora and Lake. Every single person has reacted with shock and asked why they weren't notified of this by anyone. That's a great question. If it wasn't for a friend telling me about someone who has already received an expropriation letter about 2 years ago, I wouldn't have known my farm was in the possible zone of expropriation either. People are about to lose their homes, their livelihoods, their farms, everything. And thanks to the liberals voting down clause 191 of Bill c15 last night, also has fast track expropriation Powers now. According to an Alto representative, once this is approved expropriations will start immediately. I BELIEVE THIS IS A FORM OF EMERGENCY!!!! WE SHOULD HAVE ALL BEEN NOTIFIED IMMEDIATELY!!! There are still people out there that don't realize their homes are within the zone that is being looked at to be expropriated. You better start looking this up now. Start writing letters, pick up your phone, get loud. There are multiple no Alto groups on Facebook. I AM SORRY NO ONE THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO LET PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THIS, BUT I FEEL IT IS MY PLACE TO LET EVERYONE KNOW NOW. And they aren't just taking 60 m for the train, they are taking kilometers on either side to allow for expansion, maintenance roads etc. the town will be cut by 11 ft high fences. The roads it passes through will be dead ended making it difficult for the people on the other side to receive emergency services for example. A 7 minute trip into town could easily become 30 minutes.
There are two proposed routes, a North and South. We are the North route. But even if we aren't chosen, the South route will be. One of the areas will be realizing extreme devastation shortly. I feel like I am watching a dog fight and rooting for my dog to win while at the same time realizing the other dog will have to be ripped apart and go through extreme agony before it dies so the dog I have in the fight wins. This is sickening. Why is no one standing up for us? This is a $120 Billion dollar project. Why is it not splashed all over the news? Put March 5 on your calendar and attend this meeting coming up. Support your friends, support your family, support your neighbours. Support your town!! We need you!!
This is the link for the interactive map. The numbers you see are Mark's people have added information into. Add everything you can.
Was
at the information session in Peterborough today. I confirmed that in
approx 12 months we will know the proposed route with a 1km band to
illustrate potential route. That is down from the 10km band now. There
will be more consultations in about a year, once this is released.
8w
Lorrie Tannahill
Author
Eric Hanna thank you. Not that I trust a word they say but at least we know what is coming out of their mouth at this point.
8w
Scott Richardson
A
project like this, short term may seem crazy but in the long run will
help combat global warming by taking cars off the road. The other side
of this coin is that this project is so huge it will take decades to
come to fruition, similar to the pumped storage proposal at the old mine
site. What project in the last 50 years of this scale have you seen get
done in less than a 30 year timeframe?
8w
Colleen Casey
Scott Richardson please explain.
How will pouring gravel over fertile farmland combat global warming?
Why
do people have such urgency to travel between these destinations? - if
it’s employment, should they not move closer to work?
Should
the actual environmental impact, food scarcity (yes, because
expropriating a hay field has a direct impact on the food chain), loss
of wetlands and displacing families who have been guardians of their
land for generations be of lesser value that cutting a couple of hours
(by car) or adding a couple of hour (by air) to a few hundred people’s
day?
Just a few points to consider.
8w
Lorrie Tannahill
Author
Colleen Casey
think about Pickering airport where they expropriated 18,700 acres of
land and then they didn't put in an airport. Think about Maribel airport
where they expropriated 98,000 acres and then didn't put in an airport.
Think about the hundreds of acres they expropriated in Trenton along
with Frank Myers farm of prime working agricultural land so they could
put in the biggest and best training facility at the base, that they
didn't put in. Think about the substantial amount of money Daryl kramp
received, and I'm not sure how many others, in madoc for the land on
Highway 62 at the corner where they were going to fix the roads, and
then they didn't fix the roads. I don't believe this train will ever
happen personally. I believe it is a trojan horse to expropriate tens of
thousands of acres and they were hoping for the support of everyone who
wasn't in the purple zone because well, who doesn't want a train that
goes 300 km an hour.....right? They were counting on the general public
to do what they always do, focus on the shiny things and not what's
really happening in the background
8w
Colleen Casey
Lorrie Tannahill
there actually is an airport in Mirabel. They expropriated the land,
built the airport, used it for 30 years or so and closed it (about 20
years ago) as it was losing money. The land was never returned to the
farmers and the airport is largely unused to my knowledge.
As a side note, Mirabel had some of the most fertile land in all of Quebec. Total waste and destroyed so many lives for nothing
8w
Lorrie Tannahill
Author
Colleen Casey
sorry you are correct. It never got off the ground to the capacity that
they promised everyone it would. Taxpayers donated $500 million to that
project which could be compared to around 2 billion dollars in today's
money. They expropriated almost 100,000 acres of land and used no more
than 17,000.
Scott Richardson it’s been decades. They have been talking about this for decades.
8w
Scott Richardson
Colette, so the people who are concerned should already be well versed on the proposal and have all their legal information sorted out.
8w
Lorrie Tannahill
Author
Scott Richardson did you know about this decades ago? Did you know they had a purple zone all marked out? Did you let anyone know?
8w
Scott Richardson
Lorrie, I was not aware of it but apparently Colette Bell was. Perhaps you should ask her.
There has been no mention of it on Facebook until recent so I missed it.
8w
Lorrie Tannahill
Author
Scott Richardson
why weren't you aware of it? It was in the media when Harper brought it
up but he wanted to speed train. Weren't you paying attention? from
that we were supposed to know that we would be sitting here today?
Please stop wasting time. If you don't have something constructive to
add please move on. Some of us are actually trying to save our homes.
Scott Richardson and stop deflecting to me answer Lorries questions….
8w
Natalie Mahoney
Scott Richardson I take it your place isn't on the route??
8w
Scott Richardson
It is not.
8w
Bonnie Healey
I’ll
start worrying when I see something that states its passed, where the
area is going from and to,and the area in between that is affected.
Right now, there is nothing I seen on those video clips to state we
should have issues. I would have preferred seeing the entire video, if
possible.And if it does go through it starts in Toronto and runs through
to Peterborough, 1 st section.
8w
Lorrie Tannahill
Author
Bonnie
Healey if everyone does nothing until the end, it will be the end. It
doesn't matter if they're going through our specific property or someone
else's, that someone else will need you just as much as you will need
them if it's going through yours. This isn't about yours and mine, this
is about us against the government and everyone needs to step up now
before it is too late. Please attend the meeting on Thursday in
Eldorado. Silence is compliance
Lots
of pictures - but where would the route be? Would seem odd if it were
super close to the lake - I am surprised they weren't considering taking
over the old rail trail since it is already there. Would be super sad
to lose the trail - but at least then most homes wouldn't be affected.
Right now - everything is hearsay.
8w
Eddie Maguire
BC Haacke old route has far too many bends and curves for 320km/hr.
8w
Lorrie Tannahill
Author
BC Haacke
people are assuming they are only wanting the amount of land needed for
the tracks. That is a grave mistake. They have already stated they
will be taking Extra in the area of the track that would allow for
expansion I'm assuming, maintenance roads, the equipment needed to build
everything. And then they will have to have properties for the workers
because we don't have hotels in our area. So would they just
expropriate a bunch of homes close together to put these workers in? I
don't know the answer to that. Do I trust that they wouldn't do it? I
don't trust anything anymore when it involves the government. But if
some bigwig government official in charge of this project thinks that
they would like to hang out in a house on the water during their time in
the area, I wouldn't put it passed them.
8w
Scott Richardson
Lorrie, can you give a single example of the Government expropriating people’s homes to house workers? I’d like to see that evidence….
8w
Lorrie Tannahill
Author
Scott Richardson did you read my response? Or did you just read half of it and then start typing?
8w
Scott Richardson
I read the whole rant. Why mention things just to stir people up. If the Gov. has never done it before why worry people.
8w
Savannah MacKenzie
Can
someone help me understand what the purple corridor indicates? Is the
property that falls within it what will be expropriated?
8w
Lorrie Tannahill
Author
Savannah MacKenzie
yes. If your property is in that purple area, there is a chance you
could be receiving a registered letter telling you they want it.
8w
Sarah Warrington
Lorrie Tannahill c15 says they only have to notify by email....not even registered mail
8w
Lorrie Tannahill
Author
Sarah Warrington I can't personally see that happening but with this project who knows
Leslie Laycox do your research before spouting off
Based
on the search results, there is no indication that Alto, the Canadian
high-speed rail project, is currently backed or funded by Brookfield
Asset Management/Brookfield Corp.
Alto
Ownership: The project is a Canadian initiative where the federal
government retains ownership, along with Via Rail and existing
infrastructure.
Brookfield
Activities: Brookfield is actively involved in infrastructure projects,
including AI data centers, Indian telecom towers, and various renewable
energy deals. However, the search results do not link them to the Alto
high-speed rail project.
British Columbia Investment Management Corporation
British Columbia Investment Management Corporation
8w
Bonnie Healey
Where
in any of the video does he state the area it’s going through. They
talk about the land issue, but no mention of marmora. The only talk I’ve
seen was Toronto to Peterborough. All the clips from parliament are cut
and no areas are even mentioned. No path as of yet
8w
Lorrie Tannahill
Author
Bonnie
Healey they don't. They claim they still don't know but we know that's
a blatant lie. They don't want people knowing the truth until the last
minute, when it's too late. Even if it didn't affect me, or if it turns
out it won't, i will still continue to do everything i can to support
all the others that it will affect. We are only as strong as our
weakest link.
8w
Jim Chard
The
route planning, when that begins, will narrow the "Great Blue Swath"
closer to the determined route, then they will approach property owners.
Only if you are on the narrowed swath, are you in great jeopardy.
8w
Lorrie Tannahill
Author
Jim Chard the CN rail trail cuts my property in half of 140 acres. I will lose it all.
8w
Jim Chard
If
the future line conforms precisely to the old track. I'm not trying to
minimize the situation, just offering some hope. It's no reason not to
be concerned!
8w
Lisa Trevena Perry
I
wish I would have taken screenshots of different posts I’ve read
because someone said they already chose South. Take this as heresay for
now unless I can find the source.
8w
Lorrie Tannahill
Author
Lisa Trevena Perry
I will be posting something shortly but I'm not ready to do it yet. I
will leave it up to everyone to form their own thoughts on her wording,
but my interpretation is the Alto rep let the cat out of the bag already
and stated this has already been approved. When you think about it,
how could you possibly work on something for 4 years with not knowing
exactly what you were working on??? But which route it is they have not
said. I think you might have been watching a video possibly where it was
stated choosing this side would choose going through the Canadian
Shield increasing the cost substantially compared to the South route??
8w
Lisa Trevena Perry
Lorrie Tannahill I also heard that it’s been approved but didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t remember the source.
8w
Lee Griffi
Has anyone in the area had any contact from ALTO or anyone else regarding this?
8w
Lorrie Tannahill
Author
Lee Griffi
someone south of town apparently received an intent to expropriate
letter about 2 years ago. That is how I found out about it and I have
been following it ever since and being told it will never happen don't
worry
Lee Griffi
I’ve screenshot a petition if this group is interested in, adding
their names. No ALTO groups are starting up daily, across the whole
proposed route(s). I’ve been reading a lot of post from your area, and
I’m saddened and shocked by the way people are treating this like a
joke. The lack of knowledge seems to make people arrogant and spiteful.
It would make a huge difference if someone like you could help spread useful information.
Lee Griffi
there is one in Peterborough tonight, I believe the next one is in
eldorado on March 5. We will be going to the evening session if you
would like to meet us there. But they already did a delegation in
marmora on November 4th 2025. Here is a bit of a transcript of the alto
rep speaking. The way I read this, she has stated it is already
approved. She does go on to say it is their strategy and then she
backtracks and says well no it wasn't a strategy... I knew there was no
way they could work on a project if this magnitude for 4 years, not
know where the route is and then in a video that I have now included in
my original post above these comments, they say as soon as they receive
the go ahead expropriation will start almost immediately. How could
they possibly do that if they didn't know where the route already was?
I
saw an alto meeting taking place at a restaurant in Peterborough the
other day a bunch of suits with the alto logo on their shirts. They
don't want people to have a heads up so they can't do anything about it.
Once the route is finalized they are going to swoop in "immediately"
before people can do anything about it. Philip Lawrence has questioned
this on the record and they have stated it will be immediate. Get on
the phone to your MPs.
8w
Geraldine Bichener Anderson
Is anyone going door to door to education the community?
It
was not the liberals voting the Bill down. It was their bill. They are
attempting to make expropriation with no negotiations nor market value.
The conservatives pushed forth the motion for an amendment to this bill
and that was passed.
There
used to be a time, not that long ago, when people read the paper on a
daily basis, local and provincial, to get all the news that was going on
in this country. They took an interest in what was going on and how it
was going to affect them.
Nowadays people scroll on their phone and let the algorithms pick and
choose what they see and read. Most of the time it is to feed them what
they personally will get offended about and tell them how they should
react and feel.
Just
as an example, farmers in the prairies had massive concerns on the high
tariffs put on canola meaning they couldn't sell much on the markets
they had relied on. So Carney when over to China to work out a deal
specifically for that problem a lot of algorithms pounded people on how
he was selling out to the Chinese and giving the US the finger. The
reality is that he fixed a specific issue that helped a large number of
farmers. The other fact that those same algorithms did not address was
the fact that for Trump's bullshit, the US does 34% of its trade with
China while Canada does only 12% of its trade with China. Those figures
shocked me when I researched them up rather than following the
algorithms.
If you
are waiting for the algorithms to give you the news and then tell you
how to react then your ignorance is your own fault. The information on
the HSR has been going around for years but now that it is getting
serious now people are just waking up to it.
8w
Lorrie Tannahill
Author
Gary
Janusc I certainly understand your point. But I have been following
this for 2 years maybe a tiny bit longer and everyone I approached about
it told me it will never happen don't worry about it. What more was I
to do? The problem with this particular project is who on Earth would
think that they should be researching if their property will ever be
expropriated and by who? What exactly would someone need to look up in
order to find out that we could be where we are right now? The majority
of the media has been bought and paid for by the liberal government so
even if you do look up something specifically, you still aren't going to
get accurate information and you certainly won't get all of it.
Gary
Janusc exactly..fact checking everything you see or read is important
especially on Facebook and social media in general. There's so much
false information from people pushing their own agendas it's ridiculous.
If more people did this then there wouldn't be so much confusion and
bickering
8w
Sonja Ellis
Is it true all the jobs will go to a Quebec company , or if that just a rumour.
8w
Lorrie Tannahill
Author
Sonja Ellis
this is an extremely high-tech project. They will have all the workers
from unions ready to go. They may hire the odd gravel pounder as they
go but that will be about it.
8w
Amanda Gates
Sonja Ellis its going to snc lavalan (yes like the trudeau scandal) under its new company name Atkinsrealis
8w
Natalie Hebor
Thank
you lorrie. Im going to the one today in ptbo but will try to attend
this as well. Why dont the small towns get a meeting? Right, we're
predominantly conservative
8w
Lorrie Tannahill
Author
Natalie Hebor
they were already in marmora November 4th doing a delegation. I shared
some information with you I thought you would find interesting on that
Don't
panic It could probably never happen and if it does it'll take another
15 years. But watch out for expropriation of property, as they have a
habit of doing it long before anything happens if it ever does. In
1973-74 farmers in Pickering got expropriated for that Pickering airport
that never ever went in. See?
8w
Lorrie Tannahill
Author
Scruffy Ruffy that's what people are panicking about...
8w
Shannon Frank Dwyer
People
that have their land expropriated will likely be compensated
reasonably. But everyone around the train and tracks has land that
becomes worthless. No one want a house or farm next to a high speed
train.
8w
Lorrie Tannahill
Author
Shannon Frank Dwyer
I have looked up properties in our area and around and there isn't one
that even comes close to what I have. But more importantly, what I need
for my business. Money can't buy something that isn't there and
"reasonable" can't buy what doesn't exist. Now think about everyone
being expropriated at pretty much the same time all trying to find what
they're looking for, v prices are going to really go up again. Are they
paying our packing and moving expenses as well? Because I know my
daughter and I can't do it on our own and Robert is up north most of the
time working so we can pay all our other taxes. The days of being able
to find a farm with over 100 acres easily with a house you can actually
live in and a barn are long gone. If it doesn't have fencing, as you
know, you are looking at thousands of dollars to put it in now. So
regardless of what you get for your property, it's probably not going to
be enough to replace it with what's out there.
Alto is currently in its development and preconstruction phase,
allowing the project to continue the rigorous social, environmental,
and technical analyses required to assess potential impacts and refine
the alignment. This stage is designed to ensure that decisions are made
with care, transparency, and a clear understanding of community
concerns. Alignment decisions will follow the completion of this work.
A
broad and extensive consultation process is already underway. To date,
more than 140,000 participations have been recorded across Alto's
engagement activities – including 135,804 visits to the online platform
and 7,250 in-person participants at Alto's open houses and roundtables.
Additionally, 13,344 surveys have been submitted and over 8,000 comments
have been provided on Alto's interactive map, offering valuable
insights that guide route optimization, environmental assessments, and
mitigation planning. Alto is committed to concretely addressing the
comments raised during this first wave of consultations.
Alto has
been clear in its engagement to limit impacts on farmland, maple groves,
and woodlands through an optimized alignment and tailored mitigation
measures. Engagement with the UPA and OFA began early in the process and
continues on a regular basis to identify practical access solutions and
ensure continuity of agricultural operations.
Over the past year,
this engagement has been maintained continuously as part of the
project's development. Discussions have taken place at both leadership
and working levels, ensuring that agricultural considerations are
addressed as planning evolves.
Alto has also offered agricultural
organizations the opportunity to contribute directly to identifying
sensitive areas, mitigation measures, and conditions required for
day-to-day agricultural operations to continue. This conversation
between Alto, agricultural and forestry producers is essential to
developing solutions rooted in their realities.
Alto strives to
approach discussions with landowners in a transparent and respectful
manner, always seeking negotiated agreements. Once the alignment is
known, discussions with landowners, including agricultural producers,
will take place openly, with compensation supported by independent
professional valuations to ensure fairness.
Alto remains committed
to working collaboratively with all stakeholders as the project
evolves, building a path forward that reflects both community needs and
Canada's long‑term mobility ambitions.
About Alto
Alto is a Crown corporation dedicated to
developing a fast, frequent, reliable and environmentally responsible
rail network to meet the growing mobility needs in the Quebec
City-Toronto corridor.
Charles Leblanc
Farmers facing land access requests from Alto train proponent
Haefele says he's received three letters from Alto asking permission to access parts of his family's land. (Cameron Mahler/CBC)
Martin
Imbleau is the president and CEO of Alto. He says the Crown corporation
would rather purchase land but has the option to expropriate if
landowners are reluctant to part with their properties. (CBC)
Haefele
fears the rail project could disrupt his family's business by cutting
them off from a newly built barn, as well as their water source.
(Mélina Lévesque/CBC )
Marc-Olivier
Ranger, chief of strategic policy, environment and partnerships with
Alto, attends a public consultation session in Gatineau, Que., on
Tuesday. (Mélina Lévesque/CBC)
People in Gatineau excited about the possibility of high-speed rail
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