‘Can you imagine the stress?’: Protest against high-speed rail project hits Ottawa

OTTAWA — Protesters chanted “No Alto!” as they marched past the Prime Minister’s Office on Parliament Hill Wednesday to register their opposition to the Alto high-speed rail project.

Farmers and other rural residents who live along the proposed rail corridor travelled to the nation’s capital to warn that the new rail line would run through their land or disrupt access to their properties.

The proposed route for Canada’s first high-speed rail line would stretch from Toronto to Quebec City and include connections in Ottawa, Montreal and Laval. Alto is the Crown corporation established to develop, build and operate the rail line.

Lise Beauchamp, a dairy farmer from Mirabel, Que. whose farm lies within the proposed route, said losing access to rural farm roads would complicate moving combines and other large agricultural equipment.

“There are fences on each side of that train,” she said. “Alto was never clear what access they will build to go from one side of the train to the other.”

Bruno Proulx, who co-owns the dairy farm, said more than half of the property is likely to end up on the other side of the tracks. He said losing access to the municipal road could result in a 50-kilometre detour.

And he said thousands of other properties face similar situations.

“These roads are essential to minimize the traffic of farm equipment on major roads,” he said. “The detours generated would be a waste of time and fuel for everyone.”

Brigitte Berube owns properties in the Hawkesbury area of Ontario, not far from the Quebec border. She said many in her community have similar concerns.

“We farm on our property and if we had to go around in a big U to get to the other part, it would be a big problem,” she said.

She said people in her area were given a wide distance range for the proposed route, which means they don’t know exactly how the project would affect local properties.

“Honestly, this not knowing — can you imagine the stress levels in our communities? It’s really brutal,” she said.

Alto is expected to produce a narrower corridor plan for the Ottawa-Montreal stretch later this year.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told the crowd of protesters his party would cancel the “white elephant” project.

“We as Conservatives would rather save the $90 billion, let our farmers keep their land, let our communities enjoy their peace and tranquillity,” he said.

In a social media post on Tuesday, Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon vowed to withdraw from the project if his party forms government.

When asked about that potential hurdle to development, Alto CEO Martin Imbleau said that he will stay out of the political fray.

But Imbleau promised the country’s two biggest provinces will reap major benefits from the new corridor.

“One thing I’m sure of is that if we were to delay the project or not do it, when we will wake up in 2046, all Canadians, all Quebecers — or most Quebecers, most Ontarians — will say we should have done it in 2026,” he said in an interview in Montreal. “The time to do it is now.”

Imbleau also acknowledged that resistance to the project in parts of Quebec and Ontario has escalated and Alto workers conducting technical and environmental analyses have received “verbal and other threats,” although he declined to say how many.

Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon told reporters on Wednesday the government will proceed with “great sensitivity and respect” for farmers and will consult with communities until a precise route is chosen for the “nation-building project.”

When asked directly if he could guarantee the project would not run over the $90 billion estimated cost, he said there are still “unknowns” and unforeseen events associated with a project that still does not have a final route.

“It is a very ambitious federal project that we will continue pursuing on the accelerated timeline,” he said.

Alto says it can run trains at 300 kilometres per hour across a planned 1,000-kilometre stretch of electrified rail.

Construction of the first stretch from Montreal to Ottawa could begin as soon as 2029.

— With files from Kyle Duggan and Chris Reynolds in Montreal

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2026.

Canadian Press Staff, The Canadian Press