North Frontenac Council has already taken a position on ALTO’s proposed corridor options, and that position was clear. Council voted to state it does not support the route through North Frontenac at all. At the same time, Councillor John Inglis pushed for something more specific than a symbolic “no,” recognizing what many rural municipalities learn the hard way. A simple rejection motion may feel good, but it rarely changes what happens next if the project is treated as national priority infrastructure.
That is where North Frontenac needs to grow up, fast.
If compensation is the language others use, North Frontenac should use it tooCanada is in a new phase where impact is often managed through compensation and benefit frameworks. Some parties negotiate hard. Some parties accept the impacts as inevitable and then complain later. North Frontenac cannot afford to be the second kind.
Unlike a typical corridor dispute, ALTO is not about a new highway. It is about creating hydrogen transportation infrastructure across Canada. The proponent is aware that rural communities do not want their land carved up for corporate profit. So ALTO has created a framework where affected communities can negotiate the terms of their “consent.“But North Frontenac has not meaningfully engaged with that framework yet. The Council has taken a symbolic position without a corresponding strategic plan for what comes next.
A note on strategy: Council’s vote was to state that North Frontenac “does not support” the ALTO corridor through the township. This motion did two things.
First, it made clear the community’s preference. That is important, because projects like this often proceed on the assumption that rural residents have no meaningful opinion. Second, it did nothing else. Council did not ask for a Conflict of Interest review, did not demand independent environmental or infrastructure analysis, did not request a seat at the negotiation table as a condition of reviewing ALTO’s proposal, and did not establish that any impact assessment would need to meet local standards.
These are the mechanics of negotiation that matter.
Councillor Inglis recognized this. He made a proposal that Council study whether accepting compensation in exchange for a clearly defined and limited corridor was worth the cost. Council voted not to study that option. Instead, Council chose a purely oppositional stance.
That choice can feel righteous. But it is also a choice to be excluded from the process entirely.
In Frontenac County, the situation is different. The County has accepted a more substantive role. They are in conversation with ALTO. They have not said yes, but they have also not closed themselves off from negotiation. When the County eventually decides, they will make that decision on the basis of what they have learned through engagement.
North Frontenac may find itself in a different position.
The goal of this piece is not to advocate for any particular outcome. The hydrogen corridor may bring real costs to local life and local landscape. Those costs may not be worth any amount of compensation. That is a legitimate and important decision for residents to make.
But that decision cannot be made if it is made in ignorance.
Right now, North Frontenac is choosing ignorance.
The two options before the township are not “support” or “reject.” The options are “engage” or “be excluded.” The cost of being excluded is that others will decide what happens to your land. Engaging does not mean accepting. It means gathering information, sitting at the table, understanding what is being proposed, and then deciding based on knowledge rather than fear.
Councillor Inglis was asking Council to choose engagement. Council chose the other way.
That decision may be right. But if things move forward, and they often do in cases like this, North Frontenac may discover that the term “no” was far less meaningful than the terms it never bothered to negotiate.
