TRAN Committee Report

Conservatives call for greater transparency and accountability on VIA_HFR

Conservative Members of Parliament on the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities would like to thank the Committee, its staff, analysts, and number of witnesses who shared their valuable insights on a proposed high-frequency rail (HFR) project between Toronto and Quebec City passing through Peterborough, Ottawa, Montreal, and Trois-Rivières.

Conservatives were disappointed that while the original motion giving rise to this study included specific references to high speed rail proposals in Alberta that almost no discussion of these projects took place during the study. We strongly recommend that the Committee conduct future hearings on new passenger rail projects proposed for regions outside of the Toronto to Quebec City corridor.

Conservatives are committed to improving Canada’s rail network to make it more reliable, efficient, and cost effective. We believe governments must support our entire transportation system, including rail, air, marine and road networks to ensure the efficient movement of people and goods.

While we were glad to see that our proposals to increase transparency on the project and its costs to taxpayers have been included in the final report, we remain concerned that the details of this project, including costs, remain undefined.

In 2021, former Transport Minister Omar Alghabra estimated the project would cost up to $12 billion. Since then, the Liberal-NDP government has refused to provide an updated cost estimate, however some analysts have described the cost for the project as being “astronomical.”

Under this Liberal-NDP government Canadians have been forced to pay for massive cost over runs for government-run large infrastructure projects like the Trans Mountain pipeline, which was originally forecast to cost $7.3 billion to build, but ended up costing $34 billion, or nearly five times as much.

At this stage the true cost of this project is unknown, critical consultations with municipal and Indigenous governments have not taken place and decisions on routing have not yet been determined or shared with Canadians. The VIA HFR project is still in the development phase and as a result it is impossible to accurately determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that will be posed by the final project at this time.

Conservatives will continue to push for greater clarity on the VIA HFR project, the costs of which are expected to run into the tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars. It could take years before the first shovels hit the ground and many more years until the project is up and running. The government must remain vigilant to ensure that taxpayers are protected while the project continues through this critical development phase.