To the Editor,
I believe concerns over expropriation of land for high-speed rail go far beyond trains. At one point we have to ask if there is any room left in Canada for Canadians. Historically what has separated autocratic states from democracies has been the right to private property.
There is already a direct rail corridor between Montréal and Ottawa in Ontario and another in Québec. In addition, there are publicly owned strips of land that run from Montréal to Ottawa. There is the old rail line that crosses the 34 near Vankleek Hill and runs through Caledonia Springs. That route has been turned into a bicycle path. There is land along the Highway 417 corridor. No matter the route, overpasses will be required. Keeping things in perspective, an overpass costs about as much as a cruise missile.
Expropriation, when options are available, gives the impression laws are not for the protection of Canadians, but are there to take from us what has been ours for generations and what our fathers and grandfathers went to war to protect.
We are heading down the road to autocracy where a small elite controls everything under the authority of a dictator. This has happened before. The democracy of ancient Greece in 500 BC had collapsed into autocracy under Alexander the Great by 340 BC. The republic of Rome had turned into an autocratic empire by the time of Christ.
Is it already too late to learn from history? If not, the first thing to consider are options to the taking of private property. Expropriations for the Mirabel airport did nothing for the population, and did not serve the ‘greater good’, which is a slogan for the totalitarian.
Roger McCallum
