For once, the Parti Québécois raises a useful issue: opportunity costs. Some Quebecers and federal politicians seem flummoxed by Quebec's leading separatist parties, the Parti Québécois and Bloc Québécois, opposing Ottawa's high-speed rail plan.
"We don't have the luxury, or the interest, in potentially paying $200 billion for a train for which the primary objective is a desire for 'nation building' and reinforcement of Canadian unity by the federal Liberal government," PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon wrote on social media, citing a Bloc cost estimate. The official estimate of $60 to $90 billion is based on European per-kilometre costs, which are far lower than in North America.
Transport Minister's Comments
Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said "there is no Alto project without Quebec," which is odd since the government insists it's a purely federal project requiring no provincial money. If provinces have a veto over projects of national interest, it doesn't bode well for Ottawa's new pipeline deal with Alberta.
Quebec Premier's Reaction
Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette sounded baffled, calling high-speed rail "a large-scale project that's highly transformative, generating major benefits for Capitale-Nationale and Quebec, funded by the federal government." She asked, "What more could you ask for?"
The PQ and Bloc used to support the project, but the Alto consortium's preliminary plan included a map with potential routes through central Ontario and Quebec's North Shore, alarming landowners—especially in Mirabel, where expropriations for an ill-fated airport in the 1970s still rankle. Opposing farmers is usually bad politics.
Plamondon's suggestion that farmers oppose the project because it might build Canadian unity is petulant. He also demanded Quebec's $40 billion share of the project to spend on other infrastructure—a ridiculous request for a project he opposes.
Unless your nation exists between Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City, this is a nation-dividing project, not a nation-building one. Ontario communities are divided between those wanting the train to stop locally and those wanting the idea to die.
