The federal budget omnibus bill would allow VIA Rail to expropriate land from Canadians without going through the normal procedural steps in order to build a long-planned high-speed rail between Toronto and Quebec City.
Current rules outlined in the Expropriation Act require a railway company to make a purchase offer and attempt to negotiate when taking private property for public use, but the new law would remove this requirement entirely.
“The Corporation is not required to have attempted to purchase an interest or right required for the high-speed rail network before it requests to have the interest or right expropriated,” states Bill C-15, which was tabled on Nov. 18….