Evidence of meeting #20 for Finance in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was project.
A video is available from Parliament.
President and Chief Executive Officer, VIA HFR – VIA TGF Inc.
We will definitely track the local content and Canadian content for the transparency of the process down the road, both for steel and for other components.
Conservative
Dan Muys Conservative Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North, ON
Would you also commit to providing Parliament with periodic updates on that steel sourcing—again, the origin, the volume and the value—so that those claims can be independently verified?
President and Chief Executive Officer, VIA HFR – VIA TGF Inc.
We will, definitely. I think the intent is to do it and to provide an annual report on local content.
Conservative
Dan Muys Conservative Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North, ON
Okay.
I know that one concern with large infrastructure projects is often with some of the early procurement decisions, when you kind of lock in suppliers, maybe unintentionally, before some of the details have become known.
What safeguards are also going to be to put in place to ensure that the early stage procurement—and surely that's being fleshed out now—doesn't intentionally crowd out Canadian steel suppliers before the full project approvals are in place? Having worked on a large infrastructure project in the private sector prior to being elected to Parliament, I know that this could happen, particularly with those early decisions.
President and Chief Executive Officer, VIA HFR – VIA TGF Inc.
We are not going to procure steel for some time; probably not this year. We'll maybe start the process later next year. Therefore, no decisions have been taken. We're not committed. No contracts are in place.
Right now, we are doing a market sounding with all of the Canadian players in Quebec, Ontario and elsewhere to see what they can provide and also what we can do at Alto and within the government to help them be prepared to supply more steel.
Conservative
Dan Muys Conservative Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North, ON
Notwithstanding the fact that you don't have the contracts in place, there is the assurance that this will be a Canadian-produced deal.
President and Chief Executive Officer, VIA HFR – VIA TGF Inc.
We will definitely respect the buy Canadian policy and try to maximize all local content that there is out there.
Conservative
Dan Muys Conservative Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North, ON
Okay.
You mentioned in your opening remarks that there's a four-year construction timeline for the Ottawa to Montreal portion. For the other portions—from Toronto, for example, and extending to Quebec City—what is the timeline on those?
President and Chief Executive Officer, VIA HFR – VIA TGF Inc.
We don't have a very precise timing today because we haven't done sufficient work. The environmental process will only start early next year, and then we'll do detailed engineering for two years on the first segment. When we start the construction of the first segment, shortly thereafter we will start building the other segments potentially a couple of years after.
There is no commitment today because I want to be prudent. I want to do my homework before throwing out dates, but it is potentially two years after the initial construction period.
Conservative
Dan Muys Conservative Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North, ON
It is potentially a six-year wait for people in Toronto.
President and Chief Executive Officer, VIA HFR – VIA TGF Inc.
Something similar to that. We start in 2029 or 2030 and maybe 2032 or 2033, but this is a guesstimate at this point in time. 1,000 kilometres is such a large endeavour. Engineering is the name of the game. We need to be in the field doing the detailed work.
Conservative
Dan Muys Conservative Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North, ON
For the Toronto to Windsor corridor, in terms of eventually connecting that to Chicago and U.S. markets, how is that going to integrate with high-speed rail?
President and Chief Executive Officer, VIA HFR – VIA TGF Inc.
The potential expansion to the west is something we've been mandated to study.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Karina Gould
Apologies, Mr. Imbleau. We're going to have to pause it there.
I wanted to ask one question, though. Following up on Mr. Muys, does Canada currently produce the kind of steel that Alto would require?
President and Chief Executive Officer, VIA HFR – VIA TGF Inc.
For two-thirds of the steel that is required, we have no concern that locally produced steel will not be available and competitive. For the rails themselves, today Canada does not manufacture that. We're looking at ways to entice the industry to see if it's possible or at least use Canadian steel, but it's just too premature to commit at this point in time.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Karina Gould
Great. Thank you very much for that.
We will now continue with Mr. Fragiskatos for six minutes.
Liberal
Peter Fragiskatos Liberal London Centre, ON
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to all of you for being here today.
Mr. Imbleau, I have a question on the locations. How are they determined, exactly? Obviously, there is ridership, among other factors such as cost-benefit analysis and the geographical terrain. All of these things fit in. However, I want to ask you specifically about the place of population growth in the decision to decide on particular locales, stations, the route and these kinds of things.
President and Chief Executive Officer, VIA HFR – VIA TGF Inc.
Of course, high-speed rail has to be fast, which involves limited stops, a very direct line and connecting as many people as possible while also thinking about how we connect people in the future. The seven stops we have—Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Laval, Montreal, Trois-Rivières and Quebec—were in the mandate when I joined the corporation.
Our job has been to update and provide a corridor where we could build this. We're looking at different options. As for the seven stops, they were there, but the specific locations of the stations are still not defined. That's what the consultation is all about. It's the same thing for the very precise alignment. It's a process that will take the full year of 2026 before it's finalized. We've committed to present that before the end of the year.
Liberal
Peter Fragiskatos Liberal London Centre, ON
It's a very interesting and exciting project. My intent here is not to throw cold water on it at all, quite the contrary in fact.
I represent London, Ontario. London is one of the fastest-growing communities in all of Canada. The most recent data, in fact, points to the fact that it's in the top five when it comes to communities that are growing very substantially in terms of population. In Ontario, it leads the way and has for the past few years now.
If you take into account London and surrounding communities like St. Thomas, for example, where the Volkswagen plant is going, Strathroy, Komoka and other neighbouring communities as well, you're talking about a region that has in excess of 600,000 people. Ridership—the Via Rail numbers, obviously—has gone up over the years. It doesn't align exactly with Toronto, but it's growing substantially.
I would not be doing my job if I didn't ask if London has been considered in all of this. I would even extend beyond London to Windsor. You'd have a route that would go from Windsor to London then Toronto into Quebec. Was this looked at at all, and where is the place of southwestern Ontario in the overall vision?
President and Chief Executive Officer, VIA HFR – VIA TGF Inc.
It's already 1,000 kilometres, the largest public infrastructure—as we've heard the minister say—since the St. Lawrence Seaway. I like to say to people, let's focus on delivering what we have in front of us. We've been mandated to study potential extensions to the west of Toronto. It's something we will do in the coming months with our partner.
It's still very preliminary. It's probably where project Alto was a few years ago. There is no conclusion yet, but it's something we will be studying in the next year or so.
Liberal
Peter Fragiskatos Liberal London Centre, ON
Apart from contacting their members of Parliament, naturally, which constituents have certainly done, what advice would you give those two proponents of high-speed rail in my community—the wider southwest region and municipal leaders as well—who want to see high-speed rail in the region? What would you say to them?
President and Chief Executive Officer, VIA HFR – VIA TGF Inc.
I think my first comment would be this: Let's make sure that this project, as it is targeted today, is a big success and give us some time to study a potential extension. We really want to be successful with what we have on our plate today. It's so big that expanding more, too fast, could be detrimental to the rest of the project. But we'll definitely be studying that in the coming months.
Liberal
Peter Fragiskatos Liberal London Centre, ON
Are there things that Alto would need to see here? What would have to be in place for a decision to be made in the affirmative such that the southwest region would be included in a high-speed rail project?
President and Chief Executive Officer, VIA HFR – VIA TGF Inc.
Well, I guess that's a question that probably should be put to the minister who was sitting in the chair before me. It's a policy decision. For us, the mandate is really to look at the technical feasibility—
Liberal
Peter Fragiskatos Liberal London Centre, ON
With all due respect—I don't mean to interrupt you, but I have limited time—you know as well as I do that the decision would be based on evidence. Alto would be consulted when it comes to the various metrics that would need to be in place in order to ensure that an expansion goes ahead. What are some of the factors that would go into that?