Taxpayers have already spent nearly $1.6 million promoting the federal government’s proposed high-speed rail project before a single track has been laid, while the Crown corporation overseeing the venture has expanded to include 13 vice-presidents.“We are so proud to be pursuing the development of high speed rail throughout Canada,” Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon told the House of Commons on Friday.Blacklock's Reporter says documents tabled in Parliament show Alto Corp. has spent $265.9 million of the $4.3 billion budgeted so far for the project, despite construction not yet beginning.Records obtained through a parliamentary inquiry reveal Alto spent $1,593,360 on advertising campaigns launched on Oct. 15. The spending figures were disclosed in response to a question from Bloc Québécois MP Jean-Denis Garon.The Crown corporation has also significantly expanded its management ranks.According to figures tabled in the House at the request of Conservative MP Michael Barrett, Alto employs 216 staff, including 13 vice-presidents, 44 directors and seven managers.Alto is tasked with developing a proposed $90 billion electrified passenger rail network linking Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Laval, Montreal, Trois-Rivières and Quebec City. Trains would operate at speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour..Construction of the first segment, between Ottawa and Quebec City, is expected to take about seven years.MacKinnon acknowledged Conservative opposition to the project during his remarks.“We do note the Conservatives’ opposition to the project,” he said.Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has pledged to scrap the initiative if his party forms government.“Enough illusions,” Poilievre said on March 27.“We need reality. The $90 billion Alto project is another example of a ridiculous, pie-in-the-sky Liberal spending initiative that only got worse under Prime Minister Carney.”“Cancel it,” he added. “I am confirming a future Conservative government will cancel this $90 billion boondoggle altogether. We will save Canadians $90 billion.”Poilievre’s comments came one day after Parliament passed the High Speed Rail Network Act, legislation granting Alto new authority to expropriate land required for the proposed rail corridor.“You know how long it took to build the Canadian Pacific Railway that united our entire country from concept to completion?” Poilievre asked reporters.“Four years. We built the entire Canadian Pacific Railway over a century ago in less than half the time Liberals promise it will take to build this $90 billion monstrosity.”Questions also remain about the project’s final cost.Appearing before the Senate national finance committee on Feb. 24, Alto CEO Martin Imbleau acknowledged the corporation has yet to complete the engineering work needed to produce a firm estimate.“I don’t want to be picky, but to have a cost estimate you need to have a proper level of engineering which we still don’t have,” Imbleau told senators.“So I prefer to use ‘working assumption.’”When asked by Sen. Clément Gignac how confident he was in the projected cost range, Imbleau replied: “It’s very difficult.”
