Mr. Lemire, I have been voicing my concerns since January. I sent documents about the project's impacts. I met with Ms. Mingarelli at a round table discussion. We want answers. We want to understand Alto's business plan and why this project is necessary. We want data about feasibility. We want transparency about costs.
As farmers, our farmland is the foundation of everything, as I said, so we're asking questions, and I have to tell you that we've received responses, but they're quite generic. There's nothing concrete. I'm a prominent voice on the Alto issue in my community. I hand out signs to show our opposition to the project. I've met so many farmers who come to us in tears. These are strong men, but they're completely devastated by all of this. For some of them, their farms will be sliced in two by the Alto corridor.
This is certainly a cause for concern. We've received letters about how the train corridor could force farmers to take 45-minute detours to get to their fields. As I said, profit margins are already very tight, and these detours would make our workdays longer and drive up payroll costs. We'd also have to use even more gas and take on a host of production costs—costs that are going up—just to access the same fields.
All of these challenges are currently taking a toll on farmers in our region and across Quebec. We're asking questions, and we're getting answers that aren't very concrete, which only adds to the turmoil we're experiencing here.
This whole situation is emotional for me. We're asking questions. There are things we'd like to know. Since we're not getting answers, I figure that, if we're all expropriated at the same time, we need to prepare accordingly. I've started having land appraised. That all costs money, and even if these properties aren't expropriated, we're still getting ready for it. I've consulted my accountant and my lawyer. We're right in the middle of the business transfer process. We're the next generation of farmers, so we're trying to expedite matters. That way, if any land is ever expropriated or subject to pre-emptive rights, we won't be caught off guard and can continue the succession process before that happens.
This is all creating an excessive workload for our accountants, tax specialists and lawyers—all for something we don't even know about yet. That's why farmers are worried and have lost confidence, as I mentioned in my opening remarks.
Here on the farm, we actually had a plan. We were looking to diversify a bit and were thinking of trying the new entrant chicken farmer program here in Ontario. I had already started my business plan and so on. Obviously, my infrastructure and all the land I own are in the Alto corridor. Needless to say, I've put that on hold for now. We're looking to invest more in Canada, but given Alto's lack of transparency, we've put that on hold.