Farm organizations across Ontario and Quebec are presenting a united front in opposition to the proposed Alto high-speed rail project, warning that it could have far-reaching consequences for farmland, rural communities and agricultural operations.
Alto, a federally owned Crown corporation, is planning a privately operated high-speed rail line linking Quebec City and Toronto. The project is expected to be completed by 2043.
Five farm groups decline to sign
On June 4, representatives from the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario, National Farmers Union-Ontario, Union des cultivateurs franco-ontariens and L’Union des producteurs agricoles met to discuss Alto’s invitation to sign a collaboration agreement related to the project.
In a joint statement, the organizations said they unanimously concluded that signing the agreement would not be in the best interests of their members at this time. The groups cited concerns about a lack of transparency and the need for more open communication, consultation and information-sharing before any formal commitments are considered.
This is the latest in a series of protests and public calls for the project to be put on hold.
“Farm groups including OFA, UPA and others have been working together to gather information, research, member feedback and comment on proposals and concerns around Alto’s high-speed rail,” said Drew Spoelstra, president of the OFA. “While we hoped to work directly with Alto to ensure a direct agricultural voice was regularly at the table, our groups have concerns with their requirements for confidentiality agreements and the ability to ensure the agricultural voice and elevated voice of our collective membership was taken into account on decisions as they move forward.”
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“While we hoped to work directly with Alto to ensure a direct agricultural voice was regularly at the table, our groups have concerns with their requirements for confidentiality agreements.”
Drew Spoelstra, president, Ontario Federation of Agriculture
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In the statement, it was noted that despite the groups declining to sign the agreement, they remain committed to working together to ensure agricultural land is not sacrificed for the proposed high-speed rail corridor.
| WHAT | A privately operated high-speed rail line owned by Alto, a federal Crown corporation |
| ROUTE | Quebec City to Toronto |
| LENGTH | More than 1,000 kilometres |
| TARGETED COMPLETION | 2043 |
Farm groups oppose the Toronto-to-Quebec City high-speed rail corridor as proposed because it would affect some of the most productive agricultural land.
Calls for a pause and low-impact alternatives
The organizations are calling for a pause to the project to allow for meaningful consultation and the intentional exploration of low-impact alternatives.
Spoelstra said the organizations will keep advocating on behalf of members across eastern Ontario and Quebec, with the goal of:
- Minimizing impacts to farmland
- Finding alternatives to the current proposal
- Ensuring government mandates agricultural impact assessments on projects that affect farmland
- Recognizing the importance of farmland in the context of national food security
A unified voice on Alto
Josh Suppan, president of NFU-O and NFU Region 3 co-ordinator, believes projects such as Alto demonstrate the importance of acknowledging shared alignments and the need to work collectively as farmers to have one unified position.
“We will continue to support our members as we always do but we will approach communications with Alto as one group for farmers throughout Ontario and Quebec,” Suppan said, adding that the groups want to be part of the conversation as the proposal moves forward.
“We want to see real consultation, transparency, but most importantly, the burden of proof lies on Alto, not the farmers, not the environment and not the individual citizen. This all needs to happen before any further steps are taken by Alto,” he said.
The post Farmland on the line: Farm groups reject Alto high-speed rail deal appeared first on Farmtario.
