Opposition is growing in Prescott and Russell to the proposed high-speed rail project between Ottawa and Québec City and the NO-Alt group is leading the way.
“We’re opposed to the project completely,” said Kathleen O’Connell Renaud, NO-Alt spokesperson, during a phone interview. “The question is was the project well-conceived and should it go ahead? If it must go ahead, there needs to be more public consultation with those who will be affected. We just need to pause where we’re at and do a thorough consultation.
O’Connell Renaud confirmed that NO-Alt is a regional grassroots group for Prescott-Russell and not an affiliate of a larger group. But she noted that NO-Alt is in touch with other similar opposition groups to the project in other communities along the general route plan.
NO-Alt resulted about four weeks ago, prior to the Alto public information sessions in Vankleek Hill on the high-speed rail project. O’Connell Renaud noted that the group began in response to the concerns of several current members about the lack of detailed information on the project when it was announced.
The group’s main worry, she said, is that the entire project timeline is moving “much too fast” and also concerned that there is not an adequate business case for the project given the potential cost estimates that have been suggested.
NO-Alt has set up a website at https://www.altno.ca/, and is working on plans for a series of public information and protest events about the project. One event is scheduled for March 5, 4:30 p.m., outside of the CaB Café in Chute-à-Blondeau.
O’Connell Renaud noted that NO-Alt is not responsible for several protest billboards erected around East Hawkesbury Township in the villages of Chute-à-Blondeau, St-Eugène, and Ste-Anne-de-Prescott. Those billboards, she said, are the work of private individuals.
Along with the public information gatherings against the high-speed rail project, NO-Alt is working on a petition against Bill C-15 that is now undergoing the parliamentary review process before a vote to approve or reject the bill takes place. Bill C-15 is an omnibus budget bill that includes a number of pieces of legislation related to budget issues.
One piece of legislation is the High Speed Rail Network Act. It includes proposed amendments to the federal Expropriation Act that would make it easier for Alto and the federal government to acquire the land needed for the high-speed rail line when the final route plan is determined.
“The main concern is that it (rail project lands) becomes the sole purview of the Ministry of Transport,” said O’Connell Renaud, adding that the legislation, if approved, would be “a major change” with “little or no” negotiation on the price of expropriated lands.
Right now Bill C-15 is still going through the parliamentary review process. NO-Alt has support from Lanark-Frontenac Conservative MP Scott Reid as sponsor for its petition against the project to Parliament.
The big concern, O’Connell Renaud noted, for East Hawkesbury Township and other municipalities that may end up on the final route plan, is the financial loss to the municipalities.
“The burden will be shouldered by these communities,” she said, noting that expropriated land will mean a property tax loss to the municipal budgets, and that residents could also end up helping pay for the long-term cost of the project through their own future income taxes.
She also cited the potential social impact that land expropriation could cause.
“These are not ‘empty corridors’,” she said. “These are places where people live, work, and play.”
