Alto Line
The project’s major contract has been awarded to a consortium that includes AtkinsRéalis. The firm, formerly known as SNC-Lavalin, has long drawn criticism from political opponents for its close ties to the federal Liberal government, and it navigated a series of high-profile corporate scandals before its recent rebranding.
This massive infrastructure project, dubbed “Alto,” aims to build a 1,000-kilometre electric rail system linking Quebec City to Toronto,
Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a billion-dollar spending commitment that will tie the hands of future governments—this time with a $3.9 billion high-speed rail project between Quebec City and Toronto.
Investment to protect nature.
The Liberal government has unveiled a $3.8 billion strategy to protect nature through measures like creating new national parks and marine conservation areas.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is making the announcement today just weeks after conservation groups warned that federal funding was running out.
The federal government committed four years ago to protecting 30 percent of the country’s land and waters by 2030, and Carney says these new areas will bring that target within reach.
And now, Alto has hit another problem: its proposed route poses a serious risk to historic sites and protected lands unless the federal government can honour its commitment to protect the country’s land and waters by 2030.
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, a recent Parks Canada briefing memo says the proposed route could affect federally administered historic sites, national parks, historic canals — and even the Rideau Canal World Heritage Site. Parks Canada says it has already raised concerns with Transport Canada about the potential risks.
Yet despite billions of dollars shelled out, the government doesn’t even know exactly where the train is going. The project is still in its early planning stages, with a broad 10-kilometre planning corridor under consideration — one that includes Rouge National Urban Park, the Lachine, Rideau and Trent-Severn canals, and national historic sites in Quebec. And that’s only a fraction of the total route.
Talk about a train wreck.
Alto’s track record so far seems less like railway planning and more like a good old boys’ network with a train sketched on top.
Meanwhile, the people in the line’s path are bracing for what will be the largest expropriation event in modern Canadian history.
To support these land grab efforts, Parliament has adopted Bill C-15 to expedite the expropriation of land as it pertains to ‘nation-building projects.’ This means that land acquisition can begin almost immediately, whether landowners like it or not.
Parks Canada has also flagged protected land along the corridor, including the Rideau Canal, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And if California’s high-speed rail offers any sort of warning, it began as a $33 billion project and is now coined the ‘train to nowhere.’
It should go without saying that a project that can’t explain an open-ended contract to its chairman’s own law firm is not exactly expropriation-ready.
Paying bonuses and stacking VPs before a spike hits the ground isn’t building a railway; it’s more of a slush corridor with a catchy slogan and a logo.
Economic Food Insecurity
The reason that food insecurity is mentioned when you are committing taxpayers to fund a high-speed rail for up to 200 billion dollars including overruns. When people can’t afford to put food on the table, with young children going to bed hungry, this should not be happening in a prosperous country like Canada.
According to a new report from Food Banks Canada, there has been a 40 percent increase in poverty over the last two years. 2024-2025
The charity released its 2025 Poverty Report Card, giving Canada an overall failing grade of “D.”
“In 2023, just under half (45.9 percent) of people who were receiving government support reported that it was not enough to meet their needs. In 2024, that figure rose to 50.8 percent. It now stands at 65 percent — or nearly 2 in 3 people who receive support.
The problem of food insecurity is becoming ever more pervasive, with one-quarter of households now struggling to afford food. This includes going entire days without food or worrying about running out of supplies at home.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre highlighted the difference in family grocery bills since the Liberals initially took office in 2015, rising from $8,286 per year to $17,572, a 112 percent increase.
Canada held the top spot for highest food inflation in the G7 until recently, before being replaced by the United Kingdom.
However, the country remains in second place at 6.2 percent.
Data from the Breakfast Club of Canada show that nearly 2.4 million children across the country live in food-insecure households. In Ontario alone, one in three children arrive at school without the nutrition needed to learn and focus. House research from the federal Department of Agriculture confirms that Canadians are eating less meat and skipping meals altogether because of sky-high food prices, as reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.
The situation is so dire that typical households are no longer able to meet the basic standards set out in Canada’s own Food Guide. The Province of Ontario projects a $13.8-billion deficit for 2026-27, with total debt climbing toward half a trillion dollars. Interest payments now exceed spending on post-secondary education alone.
Supply Management
The study estimated that seven to 10 billion litres of raw milk were disposed of on Canadian dairy farms between 2012 and 2021: enough to supply 4.2 million people for an entire year.
This deliberate destruction keeps retail prices elevated while food bank demand grows, and more Canadians struggle to afford groceries.
The pressure on small producers does not stop with quotas.
When guardrails become roadblocks and one-size-fits-all regulations ignore the realities of family operations, only the largest producers, with the capital, lawyers and lobbyists to navigate the system, gain an advantage.
With food bank usage rising and the cost of beef, pork and chicken climbing faster than in most OECD countries, Canada cannot afford policies that restrict supply, reduce competition and drive out independent producers.
Otherwise, the Sheriff of Nottingham continues to win, and more families may soon be induced to forage on Crown land just to put food on the table.
Carney affordability is the best
On March 25, 2026, Prime Minister Mark Carney claimed that “affordability is the best that it’s been in over a decade.”
Unfortunately, Carney’s claims are simply untrue and merely another aspect of the Potemkin nation that Carney and his Liberal government have sought to substitute for Canadian society.
While speaking at the Liberal Party convention on April 9, 2026, in Montreal, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canadians should expect tough times ahead and the establishment of a new world order.
On March 25, 2026, we are told that “affordability is the best that it’s been in over a decade.”
Then on April 9, 2026, we are told to expect tough times ahead and the establishment of a new world order.
The Liberal government seem to be talking through both sides of their mouth, with contradictory views going from good to bad in just 2 weeks’ time.
High-speed rail might be a good idea, but with the logistical problems facing this project, this is not the time, considering the total cost that could run close to 200 billion.
We need to look at other solutions that will not bankrupt our economy and to make sure every child goes to bed on a full stomach.
7 out of 10 children are food challenged and I would surmise that 2 out of those 7 are hungry and I as a child was food challenged so the reality is this has been going on for over 70 years and by both major parties.