Peterborough County has created an Alto Strategic Working Group with engagement principles for a unified approach aimed at ensuring transparency and accountability from the high speed rail project to County residents.
At a County Council meeting on April 8, Emmanuel Pinto, government relations coordinator for the County presented a report outlining a five step recommendation for engaging with Alto High Speed rail.
Through his report, Pinto told council that currently there no unified strategy across the County for the five impacted lower-tier municipalities to advocate or negotiate with Alto High-Speed Train.
The proposed corridor, which is set to connect cities including Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Laval, Montreal, Trois-Rivieres, and Quebec City, could potentially run through Ashphodel-Norwood, Cavan Monaghan, Douro Dummer, Havelock-Belmont-Methuen, and Otonabee-South Monaghan.
Pinto said that the high speed rail project will have both significant positive and negative impacts on the County and local communities.
Moving forward with engaging with Alto, the County will follow five principles consisting of:
1. Peterborough County will advocate for transparency and accountability from ALTO, ensuring residents, businesses, and townships receive clear and consistent information at every stage of the project.
2. Peterborough County will work towards outcomes that reflect the long-term best interests of residents, businesses, and townships, supporting social well-being, economic vitality, and quality of life.
3. Peterborough County will seek to minimize impacts to connectivity, municipal service delivery, agriculture, significant environmental features, and local employers, while supporting responsible growth.
4. Peterborough County will advocate for respect, fair treatment, and meaningful recognition of rural voices throughout project development and implementation, reflecting its role as a champion for rural communities.
5. Peterborough County recognizes that the Alto project presents both significant potential benefits and legitimate challenges for our communities. The County affirms that raising concerns, asking questions, and seeking improvements on behalf of residents does not equate to endorsement or opposition of the project.
The engagement with Alto, which would follow the above principles would be done by a Peterborough County Alto Strategic Working Group consisting of the Warden and the five mayors whose townships are in the Alto study area.
According to Pinto’s report, the structure of the group could change as the route of the train is refined.
That being said, it was also mentioned at County Council that this group would not replace the role of council but rather streamline conversations. The working group would periodically bring back reports and recommendations to council for final decisions.
It was stated that this is a federal project, so it can go forward without any agreement from the local municipalities or county. Pinto said that with that in mind, it is in the interest of Peterborough County to weigh both the benefits and challenges with the project and engage with Alto and the consortium in order to achieve the best possible outcomes for our communities.
Currently, both Douro Dummer and Havelock-Belmont-Methuen have opposed the Alto project this time until concerns their addressed.
Ashphodel-Norwood and Cavan Monaghan have not taken an official position either for or against the project.
Otonabee-South Monaghan not officially declared a position but has supported the Township of Rideau Lakes who expressed major concerns to the Senate about this project.
Pinto’s report said that MP Emma Harrison is encouraging participation in Alto consolation but did not state if she was for or against the project.
The City of Peterborough, Trent University, Fleming College, Peterborough Regional Health Centre are all in support of the Alto high speed rail project, however the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus and Hastings County are opposed to it.
Pinto’s report said that the working group will benefit local communities by strengthening the regional voice and advocacy on matters of importance to communities in the study area. While this group will deal with the communities impacted along the proposed corridor, Alto does have a team that will work with First Nations communities including Curve Lake First Nation and Hiawatha First Nation. The working group at the county may consult with these two First Nations on a regional approach.
During the meeting, many councillors agreed this was a good idea but stressed the importance of clarifying the role of transparency.
Many of the councillors stated that while the county aims to be transparent in all they do, they can only do so much with the information they get is from Alto and the federal government. The County is not the one running the project or delivering information, they are simply the ones relaying the facts they receive from the project consultants.
The recommendation to implant the engagement protocol and working group was approved.
