Property owners to be expropriated for LRT project won't be allowed to contest

Quebec Transport Minister Laurent Lessard introduced a bill Thursday to fast-track the expropriations required for Montreal's light-rail train project.

"The possibility to dispute is withdrawn," Lessard said. "The work has to start in the fall in order for the project to be completed by 2020."

The project would connect 27 stations stretching from Montreal's South Shore to Trudeau airport, as well as to the West Island and Laval.

The 67-kilometre rail network, expected to cost almost $6 billion, will be electric and fully automated.

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Based on the proposed route, as many as 163 properties would have to be expropriated. Fifteen of them are homes.

Martin Coiteux, the minister of municipal affairs and land occupancy, said that if people were allowed to contest their expropriations, that could mean cases being entangled in court for months or even years, in turn delaying the project.

"[It's about] speeding up the process so that we can realize that project in a time horizon which is reasonable," Coiteux said.

Home and business owners will be able to negotiate with the province for what Coiteux calls "fair value" for their properties.

The total amount available for compensation is $160 million.