LAC-MÉGANTIC, Quebec —Canadian Transport Minister Omar Alghabra made an unannounced visit to the Lac-Mégantic area late last week, facing continuing resistance to some land acquisitions needed to reroute Canadian Pacific’s line around the community devastated by a 2013 derailment and fire.
In a statement released after the visit on Thursday, Jan. 19, Transport Canada said Alghabra and Annie Koutrakis, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Transport, met with local mayors and community members and “listened to the community’s needs and concerns, in addition to reiterating their firm commitment for the construction of the bypass as soon as possible.”
The visit came five days after Alghabra announced the government would end negotiations for land acquisitions along the planned bypass route, even though some agreements have not been completed. The government had extended the negotiation deadline several times since they began in November 2021.
“We are therefore taking a new step today, even if it is a difficult step, since we would have liked to finalize all the agreements by mutual negotiation,” Alghabra said in that Jan. 14 statement. “Transport Canada will continue to make every effort in the next steps by sharing information and responding to residents’ concerns. This is to ensure the best possible integration of the project into the community.”
The Montreal Gazette reports a government source indicated steps could begin in the next few weeks to expropriate the remaining land needed for the project. Officials in the town of Frontenac oppose the plan and have set a referendum for Feb. 19, the Gazette reports. The CBC reports most members of a coalition of 256 locals in the Fronenac area oppose the route for reasons ranging from division of farmland to low compensation for land to possible negative impacts on the local water supply.
This was a major over-reaction to one accident caused by the mismanaged and derelict MM&A.
Things have changed,
Now CP runs this line and there are no more petroleum trains.
Maybe this bypass idea should be re-visited.
So rather than take the money offered, those few holdouts would rather lose their land for no compensation…
They’ll get the money Gerald only what is being offered, most likely fair market value. My take on it is hey just don’t want to give up / loose their land.
There was a time when a town failed to lure a railway through the community, the whole town relocates to the railway that bypassed its old location. :-))
Great observation!