Rideau Lakes Coun. Paula Banks is standing by information she circulated following an Aug. 6 meeting with ALTO after Elizabethtown-Kitley Mayor Brant Burrow accused her of making inaccurate statements and demanded apologies to himself, his CAO and municipality.
Banks responded directly to Burrow Friday, Aug. 7, saying she relied on information provided during Rideau Lakes council’s Aug. 4 meeting and suggesting he clarify with Rideau Lakes CAO Shellee Fournier and Mayor Arie Hoogenboom what council had been told.
Burrow, after receiving Banks’ response, told Hometown News he does not intend to engage with her further.
The exchange follows Banks’ distribution of an account of the Aug. 6 Rideau Lakes meeting with ALTO representatives Joel Wiebe and Alexis Doyle to just under 200 recipients, including federal parliamentarians from across Canada, municipalities, media outlets and others.
One of the statements Burrow challenged was Banks’ assertion that ALTO meetings involving Rideau Lakes, Leeds and the Thousand Islands, Elizabethtown-Kitley and other municipalities had been discussed at the July 17 Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus.
“It was also disclosed their meetings with Rideau Lakes, Leeds and the Thousand Islands, Elizabethtown-Kitley and other municipalities were discussed by the mayors at the July 17 Wardens’ Caucus,” Banks wrote in her Aug. 6 email.
Burrow said that statement created a false impression about his involvement. He pointed out the July 17 meeting was a Wardens’ Caucus, not a mayors’ caucus, and that neither he nor Elizabethtown-Kitley’s CAO attended.
Banks told Hometown News she had not known about the July 17 meeting before the Aug. 4 Rideau Lakes council meeting.
“I only repeated what I was told,” she said.
Banks said Fournier had advised council that ALTO was meeting with Elizabethtown-Kitley, Leeds and the Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, and had referenced a discussion at the Wardens’ Caucus.
“My information is not inaccurate,” Banks said.
Fournier clarifies what she meant
Fournier told Hometown News Friday that her reference to the Wardens’ Caucus was about ALTO and its municipal outreach generally, not Elizabethtown-Kitley’s individual meeting with ALTO.
During the Aug. 4 council discussion, Fournier said, “I believe that it was discussed at the Warden’s Caucus as well.”
Asked what she meant by “it,” Fournier said she was referring to the ALTO project.
Fournier said she had learned at a recent United Counties of Leeds and Grenville CAOs meeting that ALTO had made a project update presentation to the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus. She said CAOs were also told ALTO planned outreach to affected communities through meetings with heads of council and CAOs.
Asked specifically whether she was saying Elizabethtown-Kitley’s meeting with ALTO had been discussed at the July 17 Wardens’ Caucus, Fournier said, “No.”
She also said nothing Wiebe or Doyle said during the Aug. 6 Rideau Lakes meeting confirmed or clarified whether individual municipal meetings had been discussed at the July 17 gathering.
Fournier later obtained the ALTO presentation document from the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville CAO and provided it to Hometown News.
The slide deck confirms ALTO presented a project update to the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus July 17 and identified municipal technical discussions as part of its planned work in 2026.
Fournier said that project presentation was what she was referring to during the Aug. 4 council discussion, not Elizabethtown-Kitley’s separate meeting with ALTO.
‘There was never an indication’ EK withheld information
Burrow also objected to what he said was an implication during the Aug. 4 Rideau Lakes discussion that Elizabethtown-Kitley had withheld information about its earlier meeting with ALTO.
Fournier said she had specifically cautioned council against drawing that conclusion.
“My intention was to explain that we were not ‘singled out’ and that ETK had already met and that TLTI were also being asked for a meeting,” she said.
Fournier said several councillors then began suggesting Elizabethtown-Kitley was withholding information and she sought to correct that impression during the meeting.
“They have their meeting dates and we have ours,” Fournier said. “There was never an indication that they were withholding anything.”
Burrow has said Elizabethtown-Kitley’s first responsibility was to report the results of its ALTO meeting to its own council and residents.
A report concerning that meeting is scheduled to be presented during Elizabethtown-Kitley’s open council meeting Monday, Aug. 10.
Banks says she gave CAO opportunity to correct email
Banks also defended the process she followed before distributing her Aug. 6 account.
Fournier made a correction to the email Banks initially sent to Rideau Lakes council.
Banks had written that ALTO said CAOs could sign non-disclosure agreements unless council had passed a specific motion preventing them from doing so.
Fournier corrected that wording, saying ALTO representatives indicated it was customary in some municipalities for CAOs to have delegated authority to sign such agreements. Fournier added that CAOs do not have blanket authority across Ontario to do so.
Banks told Hometown News she waited for Fournier’s correction before forwarding the email to government officials and media outlets.
“If Shellee felt anything I said in that email was inappropriate I wanted to give her the opportunity to correct it and she did,” Banks said.
Fournier said the email she received was addressed to township council and she did not know it would subsequently be distributed more widely.
“That specific correction I wanted to address immediately,” Fournier said.
She said she had already told council Aug. 4 that she would provide her formal update from the ALTO meeting through a committee of the whole staff report Aug. 10.
Elizabethtown-Kitley is following a similar process, with a report concerning its ALTO meeting scheduled to be considered in open council Monday.
Who was Coun. Paula Banks representing?
Burrow also challenged Banks’ statement during the Aug. 6 ALTO meeting that she represented “every Canadian who may be affected by this project.”
He said Banks’ elected mandate is to represent residents of her ward and participate in the governance of Rideau Lakes, not to claim authority to represent all Canadians.
Banks told Hometown News that Rideau Lakes council voted to have her attend the meeting because of her involvement with groups opposing ALTO.
She said she attended as a councillor as well as “a representative of all the chapters, a representative of all municipalities and a representative of Canada,” and was not there solely to protect Rideau Lakes.
Fournier’s staff report says Banks indicated she was also raising concerns on behalf of the broader ALT-NO group.
When Doyle asked whether Banks was participating as a township councillor or ALT-NO representative, Banks said she believed council wanted her there because of her involvement with the broader group.
Fournier then advised the meeting that her understanding was Banks was participating “as a member of Council representing the Township.”
Banks responds to Burrow
Banks told Hometown News Burrow’s original response was “full of inaccuracies.”
She later replied directly to him, saying he should clarify with Fournier and Hoogenboom what Rideau Lakes council was told Aug. 4.
“I did not know until I was told at that meeting that ALTO was coming to our municipalities,” Banks wrote, adding she had been unaware of the July 17 meeting.
She then broadened her criticism in her email to Burrow.
“Maybe if the mayors and Alto were more transparent council members would be more trusting,” Banks wrote.
Banks again pointed to the fact she had provided her Aug. 6 email to Fournier before distributing it more widely.
“I waited for our CAO to correct the email before I sent it, if you take issue with it sorry,” she wrote to Burrow.
Burrow ends the exchange
Burrow told Hometown News after receiving Banks’ response that he does not intend to continue the exchange.
“I guess this is what qualifies as an apology,” he said, adding that he believed Banks continued to include him in her criticism by writing, “maybe if the mayors were more transparent.”
Burrow also rejected what he characterized as an attempt to make Fournier responsible for correcting Banks’ account before she distributed it.
He said Banks “fails to take any accountability by suggesting it was the CAO’s responsibility to mop up all her mistakes.”
“At this point, I do not intend to engage any further with her,” Burrow said.
The scale of the original distribution was one of Burrow’s concerns. Banks’ Aug. 6 correspondence was copied to federal parliamentarians from across Canada and political parties, in addition to municipalities, media outlets and other recipients.
Burrow said he sent his response to the same recipients he could identify from Banks’ original distribution.
The issue returns to Rideau Lakes committee of the whole Monday, Aug. 10 at 10 a.m. Elizabethtown-Kitley council meets later that day at 7 p.m., with its ALTO report scheduled to be considered in open session.
SIDEBAR: What happened at the Aug. 6 Rideau Lakes-ALTO meeting?
Rideau Lakes Mayor Arie Hoogenboom, CAO Shellee Fournier and Coun. Paula Banks met with ALTO representatives Joel Wiebe and Alexis Doyle Aug. 6 after ALTO requested a meeting with the township’s head of council and CAO.
Banks attended after council voted Aug. 4 to ask ALTO to include her because of her involvement with groups opposing the proposed high-speed rail project.
According to Fournier’s subsequent staff report, Banks asked at the beginning of the meeting whether it could be recorded. Doyle said recording was not the intent of the meeting. Banks also said she did not support information from the meeting being considered confidential.
The discussion covered the proposed route, municipal and property impacts, field studies, emergency access, agriculture and tourism, along with ALTO’s request for future technical discussions with township staff.
Confidentiality agreements were also discussed. Banks asked which municipalities had entered into agreements with ALTO. Doyle declined to identify them, saying municipalities could disclose their participation if they chose.
ALTO also proposed future technical meetings with municipal staff. Banks asked that council members be permitted to attend. ALTO representatives said councillor participation in technical meetings was not customary.
Fournier’s report says ALTO indicated corridor narrowing affecting the Rideau Lakes area is anticipated in early 2027. Township representatives also raised concerns about potential impacts on agriculture, tourism and emergency response.
The question of whether Rideau Lakes staff will participate in future technical meetings with ALTO is expected to return to council.
SIDEBAR: What did ALTO tell the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus?
ALTO provided the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus with a project update July 17 outlining the proposed high-speed rail network, consultation work, corridor planning, environmental and technical studies, land considerations and next steps.
The presentation said the current study corridor is approximately 10 kilometres wide, while the eventual rail right-of-way is expected to be about 60 metres wide. ALTO anticipated identifying a more precise Ottawa-Montreal corridor by fall 2026, with narrowed corridors for other sections to follow.
The presentation identified municipal technical discussions as part of ALTO’s spring and summer 2026 work, followed by further engagement on portions of the Ontario and Quebec route in early 2027.
ALTO also outlined field studies involving drone surveys, wildlife observations, noise measurements, wetland and stream analysis and geotechnical work. The 2026 field studies were focused on the Ottawa-Montreal central segment.
ALTO said the project will undergo a federal impact assessment examining environmental, economic and social effects.
The presentation also projected approximately 50,000 construction jobs and more than 5,000 permanent jobs operating the network. Those figures are ALTO projections.
The presentation document confirms ALTO provided the Wardens’ Caucus with a project update. It does not show that ALTO’s individual meetings with Elizabethtown-Kitley, Rideau Lakes or Leeds and the Thousand Islands were discussed at the July 17 meeting.
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