Editor’s note: The following is an op-ed on Kingston’s place in the transportation networks of Ontario and Canada, particularly with regard to restoring commercial flights in and out of the city.
The federal government’s Alto high-speed rail project is a landmark investment in Canadian transportation. By linking Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal, and Québec City with fast, electrified trains, Alto promises to change how Canadians move in the corridor.
Yet as this vision comes to life, Belleville, Kingston, and Brockville, in the very middle of it all, are at risk of being left further behind.
Since the pandemic, Kingston has been without scheduled Air Canada service. For a community of more than 135,000 — home to Queen’s University, CFB Kingston, and a growing regional economy — this absence is a glaring failure. Students, business leaders, and military families must now drive for hours to Ottawa or Toronto to connect with the national air network. That not only inconveniences travellers but actively undermines Kingston’s competitiveness and economic potential.
Ottawa has leverage. Air Canada is a member of the Cadence Consortium, the group selected to design, build, and operate Alto. The airline stands to benefit from privileged access to a federally backed transportation project. The government should make its participation conditional: restore Kingston’s air service in exchange for the rights to operate Alto.
This is not unprecedented. The federal government already compels airlines to serve remote northern communities because of their strategic importance. Kingston, positioned squarely in the busiest economic corridor in Canada, deserves similar recognition. Without federal intervention, Air Canada will not return – apart from through a bus service from the YGK Airport to their flights in Toronto.
Only Ottawa can make it happen.
And what if it does not?
Kingston will become an outlier in the very corridor it anchors. The city will watch high-speed trains speed by without a direct rail stop, while also seeing dwindling VIA rail service, and lacking a connection to the national air system. Businesses will not make investments in a city that is hard to access and effectively cut off from modern transportation networks. Queen’s will struggle to attract top students and faculty. Military operations will suffer unnecessary delays. Most of all, Kingston and regional residents will remain unfairly disadvantaged compared to their peers in Ottawa, Toronto, and Montréal.
High-speed rail will redefine Canadian travel for generations. But rail alone cannot provide a complete network. Air Canada’s inclusion in Cadence and the decades-long financial gain from Alto should come with responsibility. Only the federal government can compel Air Canada to restore Kingston’s flights. The federal government must leverage the Alto deal to reconnect Kingston with regular air service, or risk leaving one of Canada’s most important regions stranded without a connection to the age of modern mobility.
A.J. Keilty
Kingston resident
Co-Publisher of Kingstonist, Quinteist, Lanarkist, and Brockvilleist