OTTAWA — Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon insisted Monday that the federal government is listening to rural residents who are concerned a high-speed rail line will ruin their farms and their way of life, but said the project is for the “common good.”
MacKinnon was in Kingston to announce he had directed Alto, the Crown corporation overseeing the project, to include the city on the proposed high-speed rail line. Kingston was left off the government’s initial plans, but adding the city came up often during 100 days of public consultation earlier this year. The other issue to surface repeatedly in the consultations was the concern of rural residents that the line would cut their farms in half or cost them their land just to allow people to travel between cities more quickly.
MacKinnon said he understands those worries and pledged the land acquisition process would be done with “extreme sensitivity.”
“I want to acknowledge those concerns. I want to acknowledge those fears. I want to say to those in the agricultural sector, those who own land, we understand,” he said. “We will proceed with the least possible impact on people’s properties, with the least possible and least intrusive impact possible on our natural environment.”
The government released its full 140-page summary of consultations to date, revealing what it heard in dozens of town halls and through letters and online comments. The project is much more popular in cities along the route than it is in rural areas, with rural residents expressing deep skepticism of the project.
“Many believe the (high-speed rail) announcement has already decreased property values and overall demand in the corridor and properties that would eventually be acquired would be bought at prices below market value,” reads the report. “Others were concerned that no compensation would be offered for associated costs with displacement, such as moving and relocation costs, and mental health care.”
Kristin Muller, a director with the group Alt-No, said the consultation report seems to underplay just how concerned rural residents are about the project.
“It obviously tells a story. I don’t really think it’s the full one. It doesn’t really show what is actually mattering to communities very well and that’s frustrating,” Muller said.
She said residents want clear answers on expropriation processes and timelines, and a clear business case for the project that would justify its estimated $60 billion to $90 billion cost.
“People were not happy with the consultation process because it felt like a one-sided information session,” she said.
Legislation the government passed this spring will allow it to expropriate property more quickly. MacKinnon said there will be expropriations, but he hopes to use those powers rarely and find willing sellers.
Muller, who lives in the Prescott Russell area between Ottawa and Montreal, believes that will be difficult.
“Right now, nobody’s even letting Alto on their lands to do the studies, so the idea that somehow a whole bunch of people are going to be willing to sell, I think is unrealistic,” she said.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre maintained his opposition to the project, telling a news conference in Richmond, B.C. that he thinks it’s simply too expensive, and that he wouldn’t support any version of it.
“If this project ever gets built, it will be 15 years from now, and it will cost every family $8,000 in higher taxes, 95 per cent of Canadians will never even use it, and it won’t take a single car off the road,” Poilievre said.
MacKinnon said he knows some people in rural communities don’t see themselves ever using the train, but there will be benefits even to people who never take it.
“What I want to say is, your kids will use it, maybe some of your children will work building it, maybe a small business in your neighbourhood will be a supplier to the project,” he said.
“This is a project for literally the common good. This is a project for people designed for people to help people, to help communities, to allow people to more freely live, work, play across this corridor.”
With files from Raisa Patel
