The federal government says it will expropriate land from residents near Lac-Mégantic, Que., to create a rail bypass around the town where a train crashed in 2013 and killed 47 people.
Ottawa released a statement Wednesday confirming that it was going ahead with the expropriations without the consent of all affected land owners.
Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra and Procurement Minister Helena Jaczek say in the release that the federal government will take physical possession of the parcels of land required for the project on Aug. 1.
Alghabra had requested the expropriations to complete the bypass project that would remove trains from the city’s downtown area, a major demand by the community following the 2013 disaster….