To the Editor,
There is a place slated for a train line where a single pine stands against an open winter sky, where fields stretch quietly toward the river, and where a simple bench bears a family name—Hall. It may not look remarkable at first glance. But it is deeply, profoundly human.
I am writing in response to the proposed rail project currently under consideration in Eastern Ontario. What appears on planning maps as a clean, efficient line cuts directly through something far less visible—but far more meaningful.
The first farm on the proposed Ontario (Chute-à-Blondeau) list is not just land. It is history layered into soil, memory rooted like the trees that have stood there longer than most of us have been alive. Nearby, a small cemetery holds generations—lives lived, loved, and lost. These are not abstract points on a map. They are stories. They are families.
Progress should not come at the expense of erasing places that hold meaning beyond measure. Once disrupted, these spaces cannot be restored—not in the ways that matter. There is still time to reconsider, to re-evaluate, and to ensure that development does not override remembrance.
Because once a place like this is gone, no line on a map can bring it back.
Sincerely
Heather Hall
