ALTO CAN TAKE YOUR FARMLAND OR OTHER PROPERTY, AND YOU CAN'T SAY NO.  

At least, this will happen if the Senate passes a law about quick expropriation by Alto.

The quick-buy too-bad law has already been passed by the House of Commons. It could be approved any day now by the Senate, and then it will actually be the law of the land. I'm writing this on Thursday, March 26, 2026. 

On the Internet, I notice that Bill C-15 has gone through its third reading in the Senate. I guess what's next is a vote on it.

Governments have always had the right to buy your land for an important public project. However, if you didn't like their land grab, or how much they were going to pay you, you could appeal the decision. 

Sometimes, in the end, the government was not allowed to take the land – or the price you got would at least be better.

But Alto believes that it's important to grab the land that they want quickly, and almost without appeal. 

That's where this proposed law comes from.

According to Google:

The quick-buy powers are in the High-Speed Rail Network Act, embedded within the 2025 Budget Implementation Act, Bill C-15.

The Bill "introduces major changes to the federal Expropriation Act designed to significantly accelerate land acquisition for the Toronto-Quebec City high-speed rail project. 

"These amendments aim to shorten the early stages of acquisition and, critics argue, significantly narrow the procedural rights of landowners, making it potentially the largest expropriation in modern Canadian history."

Under the Bill, Alto can tell you in an e-mail about their quick-buy plans. They will then come around to haggle with you about the price. This might, or might not, include some cash to make up for your inconvenience. 

That's even if the inconvenience means you can't use the part of the farm that's split away from you by the rail line.

If the rail line cuts you off from a main road, that's OK to Alto, because you can always drive a few kilometres farther, to get around by another road.

Of course, in my opinion, you wouldn't need all this unpleasantness if the Alto project were just cancelled.

I'm thankful that the Senate has asked "the little guy" to have his say about the new law. 

This has included First Nations chiefs. They pointed out that the quick-buy law violated their treaty rights. Will they still be steamrollered? I hope not.

There have also been quite a few demonstrations, and letters to parliament, from people in rural areas who are rightfully mad about being squeezed and cheated. Thanks, brothers and sisters! 

The federal government could still stop the Alto project just by refusing to give it money as part of the budget. We'll see.

Stop Alto !