Trudeau commits billions to high-speed rail project connecting Toronto and Quebec City

With Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s departure from office just over two weeks away, he announced a multi-billion dollar high-speed rail to connect Toronto and Quebec City.

Source: Facebook

Author: Isaac Lamoureux

With Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s departure from office just over two weeks away, he announced a multi-billion dollar high-speed rail to connect Toronto and Quebec City.

The prime minister announced on Wednesday a nearly 1,000 km high-speed rail network between Toronto and Quebec City, capable of reaching speeds of up to 300 km/h.

However, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation criticized the decision, arguing that Trudeau is making a costly commitment Canadians could ill-afford while on his way out.

“Trudeau is only prime minister for another couple of weeks so he shouldn’t be borrowing billions more for a new taxpayer boondoggle,” said the CTF’s Federal Director, Franco Terrazzano.

Trudeau said the project would be the country’s largest infrastructure project ever, which he claims will boost GDP by up to $35 billion annually and create over 51,000 jobs.

Canada will co-design, build, finance, and maintain the project with Cadence, a consortium of large companies.

According to Trudeau, Canada will invest $3.9 billion over six years, starting in 2024-25. The $3.9 billion is in addition to the $371.8 million announced in Budget 2024.

The federal government’s website described the caretaker convention, an established principle in Canadian governance that requires an outgoing government to exercise restraint in policy decisions, spending, and appointments during a transition period. The caretaker convention lasts until a new government is sworn in or an incumbent government wins an election.

The website states that government activity following Parliament’s dissolution should be limited to matters that are routine, non-controversial, urgent and in the public interest, reversible by a new government without undue cost or disruption, or agreed on by opposition parties.

The high-speed rail project, which commits billions in long-term spending, raises questions about whether this announcement aligns with these principles.”

The CTF said the feds estimated a railway between Toronto and Quebec City would cost up to $12 billion in 2021. The taxpayer advocate group warned that the Liberals ran a $62 billion deficit last year, surpassing its promised fiscal guardrail by $20 billion.

During his nine-year tenure, Trudeau doubled Canada’s debt — spending more than every prime minister before him combined. The debt officially doubled on Aug. 30, 2024, reaching $1.232 trillion, more than double the $616 billion federal debt that Trudeau inherited in 2015.

The federal debt currently sits at over $1.25 trillion.

According to the CTF, interest debt charges are costing taxpayers $54 billion this year, meaning the Liberals are spending more money on debt interest than it sends to provinces in healthcare transfers.

Another critique from the CTF towards the Liberals was that the feds already own VIA Rail, which it gave $1.8 billion over the last five years to cover its operating losses.

“The government is running huge deficits and spending hundreds of millions of dollars bailing out its current train company; the last thing taxpayers need is to pay higher debt interest charges for Trudeau’s new train boondoggle,” Terrazzano said. “The government is broke, Canadians can’t afford higher taxes, and Trudeau shouldn’t be borrowing billions more while he’s walking out the door.”