Cancel Alto High‑Speed Rail
Petitioners ask cancellation of the Alto HSR Toronto–Quebec project and, if Ottawa–Montreal proceeds, that ALTO be barred from expropriating private property until the first leg is complete. The government responds that Alto is consulting and that Bill C‑15 modernizes expropriation rules.
Why we would sign this petition
- Prevents a project the petitioners say would impose large taxpayer costs, keeping public funds available for other priorities.
- Stops expropriation and property‑value losses along the corridor, protecting landowners until a completed project can justify restrictions.
- Avoids permanent community division, trail and ecosystem damage cited by local opponents and respects community opposition.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- Would forgo benefits the government cites—economic activity, jobs, and greenhouse‑gas reductions—if the HSR proceeds.
- Restricting expropriation could delay or complicate construction and legal certainty the government says Bill C‑15 aims to provide.
- Ongoing consultations and route or mitigation measures might address local harms without full cancellation, offering compromise solutions.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
Petition to the House of Commons in Parliament assembled, the Government of Canada, the Prime Minister, and the Minister of Transport WHEREAS • The Alto High-Speed Rail (Alto HSR) project connecting Toronto to Quebec City fails to meet these goals and instead represents a massive misallocation of public resources; • The project is projected to cost between $60 and $90 billion, which represents an unacceptable cost to taxpayers; • The dedicated high-speed line will connect only four urban centres (Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, and select stops like Peterborough and Trois-Rivières), while bypassing all other communities along the corridor; • Construction will involve the extensive use of Expropriation, Orders to Prohibit Work on private property, and other measures that will destroy or reduce the value of property that in many cases represents most of the wealth of residents of land near where the rail line will pass; • The high-speed rail will create an impenetrable barrier between areas lying on either side, permanently bisecting communities with relatively few overpasses connecting these communities, and bisecting local trails and ecosystems; • Communities in regions like eastern Ontario, the Quinte area, Frontenac County, Lanark County, and others already facing proposed route variants have voiced strong opposition due to these harms. We, the undersigned residents, taxpayers, and concerned citizens of communities along the proposed Alto corridor, call on the House of Commons in Parliament assembled, the Government of Canada, the Prime Minister, and the Minister of Transport to: • immediately cancel the proposed Alto High-Speed Rail project connecting Toronto to Quebec City; and • in the event that the Ottawa-Montreal part of the project goes forward, to restrict the ability of ALTO to begin the process of expropriation or any other restriction on the use of private property, until such time as the first leg of the ALTO route has been completed; and • in the event that such restrictions on property rights do begin, to restore to property owners along the route the full rights that they would have had, if parts of the Expropriation Act had not been suspended for the purposes of the construction of this project.
Government response
Response by the Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons Signed by Mike Kelloway Alto has initiated a multi-phase, public engagement process aimed at refining the project and ensuring it reflects the priorities of the communities along the corridor. The study corridor is of an approximate width of 10 kilometers, while the width of the required right of way for the high-speed rail network will be approximately 60 meters. The corridor that is currently under study must not be interpreted as a representation of all the properties that will be required for the 60m wide project. Whenever feasible, Alto will try to take advantage of the corridor of existing linear infrastructures, such as railways, highways and public utility corridors, to reduce the needs for new properties and limit the impact on communities and agricultural lands. In many cases, Alto will seek to acquire only parts of parcels, as opposed to an entire property, and therefore avoid changing the current land use, when possible. Alto will aim to have as limited impact as possible on landowners along the route where feasible and will incorporate accommodation such as crossings or other measures to limit impacts where feasible. The planning to inform the project’s route is being informed by the ongoing consultations. The High-Speed Rail Network Act, introduced via Bill C-15, features targeted legislative measures to enable the timely and effective delivery of Canada’s High-Speed Rail project. The High-Speed Rail Network Act modernizes the framework of the current Expropriation Act to ensure procedural efficiency and legal certainty in a project of this magnitude. These legislative measures are modelled after, and aligned with, well-established existing provincial legislation in both Ontario and Quebec. Expropriation is intended as a tool of last resort. High-Speed Rail will add tens of billions of dollars to the GDP, create over 50,000 jobs, reduce emissions equivalent to 100,000 vehicles, and will use hundreds of tonnes of Canadian steel, lumber, and concrete. This project is expected to create an industrial demand on a magnitude not seen in a generation, at a time when Canada’s economy is threatened by American tariffs. The Government of Canada acknowledges concerns and questions related to the High Speed Rail project and encourages Canadians to participate in Alto’s ongoing public consultations.