Quebec farmers say proposed high-speed rail threatens their land, standard of living – Montreal

Farmers and local elected officials in Repentigny, Que., are calling for a proposed high-speed rail project to be scrapped over concerns it could cut through farmland and threaten their livelihoods.

Guillaume Alary, a third-generation crop farmer, says he fears the proposed rail line could divide his property and fundamentally change the life his family has built there.

“I’m worried about my country, my family. I’m worried about the country and the families of my neighbors,” Alary told Thursday’s Global News.

Alary owns more than 260 hectares of land where he grows wheat, corn and soybeans and produces hay. His family’s farming history on the property goes back to his grandfather.

But Bauer says he now wonders how much of that land he could lose if the project goes ahead.

“Will I lose half my land? Will I lose my house?”

Alary said he learned about the project at the beginning of the year but was never consulted. “I am upset about a project that is not transparent,” he said.

D’Alto, the federal agency overseeing the project, is proposing a high-speed rail network between Quebec City and Toronto. Much of the proposed route is mapped along agricultural property.

Opposition also comes from the regional farmers’ union. “Now we have to stop the project,” said Simon Duval, regional president of the Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA) in Lanaudière.

Duval said farmers could face significant hardship if the rail line cuts off their properties, potentially hurting their bottom line.

“Half of your country will be on the other side. So the detour you have to take to get to the other side will totally ruin the financial aspect of it,” he said.

In a statement to Global News, an Alto spokesperson said the agency held consultations earlier this year and received 20,000 comments.

“As the corridor approaches more urbanized areas such as Repentigny, the priority is to identify a route that minimizes impacts on residential neighborhoods and agricultural lands,” the statement reads.

Bloc Québécois deputy Patrick Bonin, who represents Repentigny, said he could not support the project. “There is no real public consultation and environmental assessment,” Bonin said.

Repentigny councilor Normand Urbain also raised concerns about how farmers would move equipment between properties if their land was divided by railroad tracks.

“Imagine you have a train pass right in the middle of your farmland and you have to bring your tractors from one side to the other. You can’t pass over the tracks,” Urbain said.

For Alary, the uncertainty surrounding the project made him worried not only about his farm, but about a way of life spanning generations.

“(I would) lose a piece of my reason to live,” he said.

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