Hour 1 of Ottawa Now for Wed. March 4th, 2026

The construction of a historic and ambitious megaproject is just a few years away, and consultations are underway as to where it will run and how it will work. We are, once again, talking about high-speed rail. With shovels supposed to hit the ground in 2029, the service would connect Toronto to Quebec City, and would move through Prescott-Russell between Ottawa and Montreal. Trains are projected to reach speeds of 300 kilometres per hour, cutting travel time between Montreal and Canada’s Capital in half. The cost? Somewhere between $60 billion and $90 billion. But for dozens of farming communities, this idea could be catastrophically bad. Scott Reid, a Conservative MP for Lanark-Frontenac, is in the middle of a riding that could be split by either of the proposed routes. He joins Kristy Cameron from today’s Alto consultations in Perth. Sticking with municipal matters, we could be receiving some positive developments in the coming days about the next stage of LRT. You’ll hear from OC Transpo Interim GM Troy Charter in Hour 1. But first, we bring you up to speed on today’s top headlines.