KIM BURTON-SCHRAM
Local journalism initiative reporter
Alto President and CEO Martin Imbleau recently announced that 1,700 properties could be affected by the high-speed train route, including 500 farms on the corridor planned between Ottawa and Montreal, where land owners have received, and many are rejecting, “Permission to Enter” notifications, increasing fears of their land being expropriated.
However, according to Alto Corporate Communications, the route is still being determined, as the company analyzes feedback gathered at the public meetings. Alto plans to publish a report in June and hold a second round of public consultations for a more refined route in the fall. “At this stage of the project, the route has yet to be determined,” said Crystal Jongeward, Senior Advisor of Corporate Communications for Alto. “Once the route is determined, we will know what land or property will need to be acquired. The figure reported… is an estimate based on working assumptions that may still change.”
For property owners along the planned route, the access notification are not a good sign. “The level of stress and anxiety this is creating in the community is very high and concerning,” said one North Glengarry farmer who has refused Alto access to the property he manages. “There are a lot of pressures in the farming community,” he said, “especially at this time of the year.”
Farmers are already facing a wet, cold spring that has put them behind in getting into the fields for planting, along with soaring fuel and fertilizer prices. Many wonder how they will be able to access their fields and continue to farm the land that has been sliced through by a fenced-off train track. And farmers are still dealing with the lingering effects of last year’s drought.
According to the Alto Train website, the company is “working to identify a narrower rail route that minimizes impacts on property owners, communities, agricultural operations, and the environment, while meeting high-speed rail technical and safety requirements.” The Crown corporation says it plans to make use of existing transportation or utility corridors, thus reducing the need to access private property, however, “Despite our best efforts, property acquisitions will still be necessary.”
The federal government’s Bill C-15 amended the Expropriation Act, including the High-Speed Rail Act, detailing that the government’s abolition of public hearings for expropriation and the government is no longer obligated to negotiate purchase agreements with property owners. Landowners who want to sell their property along the proposed route must give Alto the first right of refusal to purchase the land. Alto says it maintains a commitment to assess each property on an individual basis to determine a fair market value.
L’article High-speed anxiety: Worries grow as land owners hope Alto train plan will be derailed est apparu en premier sur Cornwall Seaway News.
