Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is attacking the federal government's proposed $90 billion high-speed rail project, calling it a massive taxpayer-funded boondoggle designed to enrich Liberal insiders while delivering little benefit to most Canadians.Speaking to reporters, Poilievre criticized Ottawa's plan to spend billions on planning and development for the proposed rail corridor linking Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Laval, Montreal, Trois-Rivières and Quebec City.“The Liberals are promising to spend $5 billion over the next year just to study the idea, not to build a single inch of rail,” said Poilievre. “A bunch of Liberal insiders, activists, lawyers will get rich, making single moms, seniors and small businesses poor.”Blacklock's Reporter said Poilievre argued the project would saddle taxpayers with enormous costs while serving only a small portion of the population.“If this project ever gets built it will be 15 years from now and it will cost every family $8,000 in higher taxes,” he said. “Ninety-five percent of Canadians will never even use it, and it won’t take a single car off the road. It will just take passengers out of airplanes that don’t need subsidies.”His criticism came as Alto, the Crown corporation overseeing the project, released a report summarizing feedback from public consultations in Ontario and Quebec. The What We Heard report found many participants questioned whether the rail line could be completed on budget or on schedule.“Many participants raised questions about the project and its timeline and were skeptical that the project could be delivered within the anticipated budget and schedule,” the report stated.Concerns were also raised by rural landowners who fear portions of their property could be expropriated to accommodate the proposed route.“Apprehension about land acquisition was voiced, especially in rural areas,” said the report. “Farmland protection and preservation of agricultural connectivity were raised as concerns.”Alto executives have acknowledged the project’s estimated construction costs will not be recovered through fares. The corporation stated that by 2055, projected revenues are expected to cover operating and maintenance costs, but not the initial capital expenditure.Poilievre proposed redirecting billions currently earmarked for studies, engineering and planning toward tax relief for motorists.“My idea is, let’s improve the transportation of every single Canadian by taking the GST off used cars,” he said.“Right now you are paying double, triple, and even quadruple tax on the same vehicle as it is sold and resold. Conservatives would use the Alto research money to take the tax off used cars so you can save $2,000 on your next vehicle.”.Documents tabled in the House of Commons on June 5 showed Alto has already spent $265.9 million of the $4.3 billion allocated for start-up costs.The corporation has also built a sizeable management structure, hiring 13 vice presidents, 44 directors and seven managers, including the wife of the Minister of Finance.Opposition to the project continues to grow. Conservative MPs have sponsored 26 House of Commons petitions signed by 27,036 taxpayers urging Ottawa to abandon the rail venture.
