Anti-Alto group protests high-speed rail project

It could be us as well, who lose our homes, our farms, our livelihoods. Isabelle Delaurier worries a new high-speed rail line could tear her community apart. It's going to divide the community basically in half, both when it comes to how we get around and see our friends, do our daily activities. She's participating in part of a five-day, 105-kilometer walk from East Hawkesbury all the way to Ottawa's Via Rail station. It's organized by a group calling themselves Alt-No. They're taking a petition with them, calling on government officials to be more transparent about the project and to conduct more fulsome consultations in rural communities. ALTO did hold public information sessions in several communities, but residents still have questions, and they're worried about legal restrictions on their own lands and potential expropriation. A local town councillor is co-directing the Alt-No group. These are incredibly serious consequences for people who live in these communities, but we've had so little information or engagement, real engagement, from the project leadership or from our own elected leadership that we feel this is almost anti-democratic at this point. We have no voice whatsoever. In an email, Alto told CBC it understands the project can raise concerns. It says there will still be more opportunities for the public to provide input and it's committed to working collaboratively. For those in favor of the project, the fact that some rural communities don't feel heard is concerning. But they say it's not only urban centers that will benefit from high-speed rail. If you live in a Hawkesbury, if you live in a, you know, Vankleek Hill, if you live somewhere there, there's a bus that can get you to an ALTO stop that can then take you onto another trip. So yeah, you might not live in an urban area where the trip to Toronto is two and a half hours, but it might cut your overall trip instead of driving to Toronto down. Alt-No plans to arrive at the Via Rail station and deliver its petition to government officials on Thursday. An announcement containing a more specific route between Ottawa and Montreal is expected sometime in the next five weeks. Cameron Mahler, CBC News, Ottawa.