While not everyone was outright against the Caisse de dépôt's proposed light rail system, there were plenty of concerns raised at Monday's public hearings.
Several groups, including the David Suzuki foundation and Quebec's professional farmers' union (UPA), were on hand to argue the current plan for the network offers no benefits to daily users, only serves private interests, destroys valuable agricultural land and fails to reduce greenhouse gases.
Sylvain Perron, of the David Suzuki Foundation, told commissioners that nearly every aspect of the light rail system promotes urbanization. Perron argued the new stations set to be added are projected to be along highways and in areas with a low population density, making profitability almost entirely dependent on real-estate development.
A coalition of unions echoed the same statements earlier in the day when it called on the Quebec government to hold a public inquiry into the proposed $5.5 billion project.
The groups said the current environmental impact studies ignore the increased gas emissions due to urban sprawl brought on by the system.
The UPA expressed its concern over the location for the train station planned in Brossard.
The farmers union said the land on the south side of Highway 30 is currently zoned agricultural, and bulldozing it for 3,000 parking spots and a train station would have disastrous economic consequences as the inevitable urbanization of the area leads to more and more farmland being bought up to build more shopping malls.