Petition to the House of Commons in Parliament assembled, the Government of Canada, the Prime Minister, and the Minister of Transport

WHEREAS

We strongly support sustainable and accessible transportation that reduces emissions, and eases congestion;

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;

These funds could instead be invested in upgrading existing national rail systems, highways, and EV charging infrastructure;

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.