Three of Canada’s biggest farm organizations are again demanding that the feds hit the brakes on the controversial Alto bullet train pending an independent review into the project’s impact on agriculture and affected communities.
The joint letter from the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, Ontario Federation of Agriculture and Union des producteurs agricoles insists that Alto’s objectives “must not come at the expense of Canada’s agricultural land base, food production capacity, or the long-term viability of rural communities.” The groups are calling for the estimated $113-billion project to be paused to accommodate an independent project review they are also demanding from the Carney government.
The missive was sent Nov. 6 to federal ag minister Heath MacDonald and transport minister Steve MacKinnon. It’s a followup to similar correspondence from the same groups in February. But the urgency is dialled up now as the Crown corporation behind Alto prepares to release the train’s precise route through Eastern Ontario this fall. Notices are also being sent to landowners as the developer prepares to expropriate property for the 1,000-km high-speed railway corridor between Quebec City and Toronto. The first planned segment alone, a 200 km stretch between Montreal and Ottawa, will cut through an estimated 500 farms, according to Alto.
The new train is supposed to travel at 330 km/h through a fenced-off corridor 60 metres wide, dead-ending many rural roads and splitting the landscape in farm country.
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