by Dr. Jeffrey Overall Guest Blog - The decision to implement a highspeed rail (HSR) system in Canada has long been debated among politicians. According to Paul Langan, from High Speed Rail Canada, since 1970, the government has spent $35 million on conducting 25 studies on the feasibility of HSR in Canada. To date, Canada remains the only G7 nation without HSR and our existing system has been slated as at least 50 years outdated. IMPORTANTLY, There are vital public policy issues that can be addressed with HSR: Overheated real-estate market Most commuters in Toronto are faced with an average commute of over an hour (one-way) while those travelling from the suburbs experience much longer commute times often closer to two hours. Conversely, with HSR, the commute times from areas further into the suburbs or rural areas, where real-estate is substantially less expensive, would be the same (or less) compared to existing commute times. Put differently, people can travel from furth...