Landowners gathered at the Ontario Landowners Association (OLA) general meeting in Cobourg to voice strong opposition to the federal government’s proposed $90-billion Alto high-speed rail project, warning it threatens private property rights through aggressive expropriation and sweeping legislative changes.
The project, aimed at linking Toronto and Quebec City, has sparked alarm among rural residents and farmers in eastern Ontario as letters from Alto arrive, requesting access to private land for surveys, soil testing, and environmental assessments.
Many fear that allowing entry could weaken their legal standing and pave the way for forced takings.
“There is no law that requires property owners to allow anyone onto their property with respect to Alto,” OLA president Jeff Bogaerts relayed. “The moment you allow Alto onto your property, your property rights are going away.”
Attendees noted that the lack of clear route details, crossing plans, or impact assessments has left landowners in the dark.
Critics like Conservative MP Philip Lawrence argue that the project is fundamentally flawed. At speeds requiring grade separation, every road, farm lane, or crossing demands expensive overpasses or underpasses, costing millions each.
For him and concerned landowners, the economics don’t add up: an estimated $8,000 per Canadian household, with most taxpayers (outside of the 1,000 km corridor between Toronto and Quebec City) unlikely to ever use the service.
“It’s my property. I should be able to do what I want with it,” one farmer stated plainly. “We don’t need it, we can’t afford it, and it’s just a bad idea,” said another.
Others pointed out practical inconveniences, such as disrupted local travel patterns that could force longer drives for basic needs like groceries.
Concerns extend beyond cost and disruption, with speakers highlighting potential conflicts of interest, noting involvement of firms like SNC-Lavalin (now rebranded Atkins Realis), compounded by the fact that Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s partner is vice-president of Alto’s environmental division.
Questions also arose about the project’s alignment with broader global agendas under Prime Minister Mark Carney, with former MP Jack MacLaren saying, “I hope the train goes where the new world order goes, and that’s nowhere.”
Nowhere — that’s exactly where a 2018 Ontario government proposal for a high-speed rail line ended up, despite plans to have it running by 2025 and an $11 billion ‘commitment’ to the failed project.
Ironically, a copy of that year’s OLA magazine was shared with attendees, showing just how relevant those same concerns persist nearly a decade later.
Hellbound and Down 