Lanark County will not sign a confidentiality agreement with ALTO for now, after councillors rejected a staff recommendation that would have allowed private discussions about potential routes for the proposed high-speed rail line.
“Why put the onus on our staff or council to keep their secrets?” Carleton Place Deputy Mayor Andrew Tennant said during the county’s Corporate Services Committee meeting Sept. 16. “It’s not our problem. It’s their problem.”
The committee had been asked to authorize Warden Richard Kidd and Clerk Jasmin Ralph to sign a confidential information-sharing agreement with ALTO.
Instead, after a lengthy discussion, councillors withdrew the original motion and supported a new motion not to consider signing the agreement at this time.
CAO Kurt Greaves said he and Kidd met with ALTO representatives in July through the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus. ALTO wants to meet with county planning and public works staff as it considers possible routes through Lanark County.
Greaves said ALTO plans to publicly identify a corridor about one kilometre wide by late winter or early spring 2027.
The purpose of meeting county staff would be to obtain local knowledge about roads, infrastructure, development and other considerations that could affect the potential route.
“They don’t want that information of the possible route getting out into the public until they’ve decided on a final route,” Greaves told the committee.
The proposed agreement would run for up to five years and could only be terminated early by written consent of both parties. Confidentiality obligations could continue beyond the agreement for information that remained confidential.
Several councillors questioned why the county should accept those restrictions, particularly during the municipal election campaign.
Coun. Bill King said he opposed both the agreement and the ALTO project.
“I’m opposed to ALTO in all shapes and forms,” King said. “I don’t think we should do anything to help them.”
Montague Deputy Reeve Jeff Carroll said ALTO’s approach was creating significant concern in his municipality and argued the county should wait until after the election before considering an agreement.
“I don’t think we should be signing anything right now,” Carroll said. “I think we should say no, give us the respect. We’ve asked for the respect. We’ll talk to you after the election.”
Drummond/North Elmsley Reeve Steve Fournier said his municipality had also been asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement and refused.
“We have residents in our Ferguson Falls area that think it’s going to cut their farms in half,” Fournier said.
He said ALTO is expected to meet again with Drummond/North Elmsley officials, but the municipality has insisted council representatives be present.
“They wanted to meet with the planner, the CAO and the public works manager, and not have a councillor in there. We said no,” Fournier said.
Kidd said there may eventually come a point when the county needs to participate in discussions to protect residents’ interests if the project moves forward, but agreed now was not the time.
“At some point, we’re going to have to try to get the best deal possible and deal with it,” Kidd said. “But maybe now is not that time.”
County council formally expressed opposition to the ALTO high-speed rail project in its current form in March, supporting an Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus resolution raising concerns about impacts on rural communities, agricultural lands, infrastructure and environmentally sensitive areas.
The proposed ALTO line would use dedicated electrified tracks between Quebec City and Toronto, with stops including Montreal, Ottawa and Peterborough.
The committee’s decision means Lanark County will not enter the confidentiality agreement at this time, although councillors left open the possibility of reconsidering the issue later.
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