Eastern Ontario residents raise concerns proposed high-speed rail will impact farms

Residents in Vankleek Hill are concerned the proposed high-speed rail line between Ottawa and Montreal will disrupt farmland in the area.

As the plans for high-speed rail in Ontario and Quebec kick into high gear, some residents are raising concerns over the impact on farms in eastern Ontario.

The proposed Alto route would run between Toronto and Quebec City, with stops in Peterborough, Ottawa, Montreal, Laval, and Trois-Rivières.

But there are concerns building the Ottawa to Montreal leg could cause significant disruptions in Vankleek Hill, which sits an hour east of Ottawa.

Michael MacGillvray is the owner of Kirkview Farms, which specializes in raising organic cattle, poultry and pork. MacGillvray says he’s worried the proposed high-speed rail line could come close to his home and farm, which would affect his business.

“That train comes through here, right between us and our forest, we wouldn’t be able to access our forest anymore.”

He says he also produces some maple syrup, and a proposed high-speed rail line could impact access to land.

“That means we would probably have to give up that business,” MacGillvray explains. “That’s the impact that this could have. It could literally destroy one portion of our business.”

And he says he’s not the only one raising concerns. Kirkview Farms sits just south of Vankleek Hill, and the prosed route could bring trains moving up to 300 kilometres per hour through the area several times a day.

“There’s a lot of angst. There’s a lot of concern in the community,” he explains. “There’s uncertainty. And the other thing is that there’s a lot of people still in the community that don’t know about this.”

The proposed route would connect Toronto to Quebec City and move through Prescott-Russell between Ottawa and Montreal, sparking concerns from farmers that their land could be appropriated.

In a statement, Alto, the Crown corporation tasked with building the high-speed rail line, says no route has been selected and that wherever possible, it will follow existing transportation corridors. The Crown corporation adds if it needs to acquire land “our strong preference is to prioritize negotiated, willing-buyer willing-seller agreements.”

On Monday, the community came together to voice their concerns.

“These are just a sampling of businesspeople who are concerned about this,” local business owner Allan Simpson told CTV News Ottawa. “We could have easily had 200 or 300 more.”

He says people are worried about the uncertainty and what the line could mean for local roads, properties and quality of life.

“Today, we’re facing a disruption of our businesses,” Simpson says. “We don’t know how to plan or how we can pay our mortgages going forward because we’re under a cloud.”

• Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App