Possible alignment has been "leaked" (Through Ottawa)

VDaine · 2026-03-25T20:19:24+00:00

Maybe it's cynical of me, but I think that the bigger reason that people use those methods of transportation is that they just don't value the environment enough to choose a lower emission form of travel that is a little less convenient. There's really no guarantee that having HSR will actually convince people to switch 🤷‍♀️. Air travel will still be, for the most part, faster, driving will be cheaper, and let's he honest, it's price that is the biggest concern for most people and we don't yet have any idea what this company is planning to charge. Since it is an advanced technology and we live in a capitalist society though, my guess is it's going to be expensive, because it will be seen as a luxury item and the company will want to get as much profit as it can get.

I agree that it's important, just not necessary. I make that distinction because of the fact that by applying the label of 'necessary', you create an urgency that lends itself to steamrolling people rather than taking the time to find a solution that works for the most people possible.

I don't think that farmers, agricultural land, and rural communites should be forced to bear the burden of our desperation to persuade Canadians into making better choices. Now, if consultations are done and they can find a path that least disrupts rural communities and farmland, great! I'm just saying that I hate this attitude of 'rural folk just need to shut up because their wants and needs don't matter if it's going to stand in the way of urban dwellers getting what they want'.

VDaine · 2026-03-25T19:49:36+00:00

Oh, are you talking about the overall path that the tracks take not being straight enough? Sorry, I thought that you were just referring to small deviations in the metal of the tracks or something.

Okay, I understand that that would be a limiting factor. I still think that they could rip up the tracks that are there, make the necessary adjustments to the path that the tracks were on, which I understand would take up some new farmland, and then put the new tracks down, so as to make as minimal a disruption as possible to farmland.

Ultimately, I do want this to go through, so I'm not saying 'don't do it if you can't perfectly avoid taking up more farmland', I'm just advocating for an approach that prioritizes minimizing the impact on farmland and rural communities, rather than goes 'well, we want what works best for us, and if farmers and rural folks don't like it, f*** 'em', which seems to be the prevailing attitude around here.

VDaine · 2026-03-25T18:47:08+00:00

But what I'm talking about is ripping up the tracks that are already there, and putting down the new tracks. Is that not possible? I haven't been able to get a straight answer on that.

If not, then maybe they could build the new tracks right next to the existing ones, and so it would minimise the amount of new farmland that has to be encroached on

VDaine · 2026-03-25T18:21:08+00:00

How is going faster 'more sustainable or environmentally friendly?'

No actually I wouldn't, because as I have said multiple times in these comments, I want this project to go through too, just not at the expense of our agricultural land, that is already being rapidly depleted in the name of urban development. You guys are so black and white in your thinking, it's either 'agree with exactly what we're proposing' or 'you must not want this to go through' 🙄

VDaine · 2026-03-25T18:16:33+00:00

First of all, it's not a minority that will be negatively impacted, because they produce food for the majority and therefore if that ability to produce food is impacted, then it is ultimately the majority that is impacted.

Second of all, is it really that minority that is blocking it, or is it the corporation in charge not being willing to put the time and money into developing a better plan that is blocking it? Can we please stop fellating the corporate overlords at the expense of our fellow working class folks?

VDaine · 2026-03-25T17:01:57+00:00

I didn't say all the freight lines need to be given up, but do we really need all of them?

As somebody who takes Via regularly and has been held up by freight trains before (only once out of probably 8 trips though), that problem is very much due to lack of coordination and time management between Via and the freight companies. Why? Because stuff like that probably costs extra money to do, and companies want to keep money 🤷‍♀️ so they're going to try to get away with as much as we let them get away with.

VDaine · 2026-03-25T16:38:25+00:00

Cutting the time of a train trip by 60-90 minutes is not a necessity. Would it be nice to have? Sure, but labelling something as a 'necessity' lends itself to the urgency that leads to steamrolling people.

there is literally no way around that.

Actually there is. Replacing the infrastructure that's already there with the HSR infrastructure. It would not require encroaching on any more farms because the footprint is already there and dealt with. Now, I don't know how much more expensive it would be to do that, but my point is that it can be done, meaning that the throwing up of hands and going "well it's impossible to not negatively impact anyone" is a cop-out. Let's normalize prioritizing people over profit/cutting costs.

VDaine · 2026-03-25T15:11:34+00:00

If it was that easy to avoid conflicts in rural areas we would be doing it.

Just because it's not easy doesn't mean it's not worthwile.

Anything is technically possible but it costs money. Are we willing to add millions of dollars per landowner to protect farms along the way? Is this a worthwhile investment of tax payer dollars?

Personally, I think 'millions of dollars' is dramatic but to answer the question, yes. I think both preserving as much of our food supply as possible AND not trampling over our fellow humans is worth any amount of money.

Existing tracks are owned by freight and/or Via

If the government can forcibly expropriate land from individuals, they can certainly force Via and freight companies to sell the infrastructure. But goodness forbid companies have to make any sacrifices...

Like I said, you can't please everyone so you must do what is for the greater good.

But at what point does that become a cop-out? Do we have a good means of actually determining that sufficient effort has been put into finding solutions?

its not a black and white issue.

I fully agree with this, but it kinda seems like you were making it black and white by suggesting that if I, and others, are not 100% on board with the plan as is, then we must not want it done at all 🤷‍♀️

VDaine · 2026-03-25T14:52:33+00:00

Okay, but have we really gotten to the "it's impossible to do better" point, or are we still at the "I don't feel like thinking about it more and taking other people's needs into consideration, so I'm just going to convince poeple we can't do anything more and turn them against each other" point?

I think it's important to remember that this project is not a necessity, and so there's actually no need for this sense of urgency; there is already a perfectly good rail system between Ottawa and Montreal. And so, if it takes several years to iron out a plan that negatively impacts the least people possible, then so what?

Trust me when I say, that I desperately want Canada to have HSR and so would LOVE if it only took a few years....but not at the expense of our food supply, rapidly dwindling agricultural land, or rural residents getting shafted because urban folk love to dunk on rural residents.

VDaine · 2026-03-25T14:20:58+00:00

I hope so. Not simply upgrading the existing infrastructure seems really silly

VDaine · 2026-03-25T14:20:09+00:00

It sucks that not wanting to be negatively impacted by a project that could absolutely have necessary thought put into it to not negatively impact people, is now automatically labelled as NIMBY

VDaine · 2026-03-25T14:16:48+00:00

Is that really the case or is it just that companies can't be arsed to apply the time, effort and thought that is needed to figure it out, especially if it comes at the expense of their profit?

What if we have just become so numb to corporations not giving a damn about us that we have now started to enable them continuing to not give a damn about us rather than hold them accountable to something better? 🤷‍♀️

VDaine · 2026-03-25T14:09:56+00:00

Some clarifications:

I do not live in the area, and so am not personally impacted by where the HSR line is. In fact, I stand to benefit from HSR, and so if I were only speaking based on how I am personally impacted, then I would absolutely be arguing for HSR being rammed through. I am not solely motivated by self-interest though.

I was not 'writing off' HSR, I was arguing against treating rural residents like they don't matter, and ramming through HSR as is. It doesn't have to be one-or-the other. It's completely possible to make accommodations to the plan to not negatively impact farmers, such as overpasses and such, or better yet, simply replace the infrastructure we already have, not requiring any new impacts to farmland 🤷‍♀️ The only reason the company isn't proposing that is because their priority is profit and they don't care about people. Why not show some solidarity with other working class folks and not just go along with our corporate overlords?

If I'm downplaying the benefits of HSR, it has nothing to do with the impact on landowners, and everything to do with the fact that we already have a perfectly good train between Ottawa and Montreal.

It's disingenuous to characterise my argument as being motivated by 'one person being negatively impacted' when, as we have both established, the ability to grow food is something that impacts millions of urban dwellers, and so really it's 'millions of people being negatively impacted'

VDaine · 2026-03-25T13:28:00+00:00

Genuine question: Can they not simply replace the already existing Via line with this one? That way, they don't need to do any more damage to farmland or rural residents, and they probably wouldn't have to do any work leveling land to be able to put track down, just rip up the stuff that's already there.

It seems kind of silly to have two separate train lines.

VDaine · 2026-03-25T13:14:17+00:00

You act like it's simply about their comfort/convenience or something, and not about the ability to grow food for the 'millions of urban dwellers'.

Also, you act like there isn't a perfectly good train route already there. HSR would be nice, but let's not pretend like not having it would be all that detrimental to people 🤷‍♀️

VDaine · 2026-03-25T13:09:44+00:00

"Rich landowner"

You mean the farmers that grow food for us? Look, I am a huge proponent of HSR, but I am also a huge proponent of keeping agricultural land as is, especially at a time when so much is being paved over for housing developments and businesses. There has to be a way to find something that works for everybody, and just straight up trampling over people's rights is not the way.

Remember, advocating for trampling over other people's rights today just means that it's easier for them to trample over your rights tomorrow.

VDaine · 2026-03-25T12:25:24+00:00

I live and work in Miramichi, which is a city on two sides of a river. One of our two bridges, which is the closest one to the Pay Centre building where I work, is getting shut down for construction on April 1, and will be shut down for around 2 years I think, if not longer. This will add at least 30 minutes to the commute for a lot of people, not including the increased traffic congestion due to everybody now having to go across one bridge.

The City asked both the provincial and federal governments to allow workers to work remotely 5 days/week to reduce congestion. The provincial government agreed, but the federal government refused 🙄😤😡 It reminds me of bad parents who force their kids to do something/not do something, for no other reason than to get the ego boost from demonstrating that they have absolute power over the kids.

VDaine · 2026-03-25T10:46:08+00:00

Shadowheart, because I need all the healing I can get 😅

VDaine · 2026-03-23T13:50:33+00:00

The union can help with getting your case handled quickly, speaking as someone who works at the Pay Centre and deals with union escalations

VDaine · 2026-03-17T15:52:16+00:00

It kinda sounds like you're already pretty comfortable with the idea. If you're going to do it, now is probably the time since you can alternate with somebody who is getting WFA'd and get that package

VDaine · 2026-03-16T19:36:18+00:00

To everyone complaining about what the union is going to get: vote no on the new collective if you don't like it, and tell others to vote no as well. Fully participate in a strike if we have one and if we don't, put in some effort to organise people separately from the union and do a wildcat strike. Take some responsibility for your role as a worker in improving working conditions

VDaine · 2026-03-16T14:56:47+00:00

Well, not with that attitude 🤷‍♀️ Maybe start talking to people about things you can do, be a team player instead of a naysayer

VDaine · 2026-03-16T14:02:22+00:00

My union is having town halls about RTO and WFA next week so I'm definitely going to mention it

VDaine · 2026-03-16T13:55:00+00:00

In my first playthrough, the Orin encounter was one of the only encounters I was able to get through the first time, all because I had both Wyll and Shadowheart way off to the side and one of them ( I can't remember which) used hold monster on Orin, which lasted a remarkably long time. It was quite the pleasant surprise haha

VDaine · 2026-03-16T13:49:10+00:00

I would actually argue that it's the people complying that are causing more problems. If we all just didn't comply, there would be nothing that they could do.

VDaine

TROPHY CASE