The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that the federal government has selected a consortium to design a high-speed-rail link running from Quebec City to Toronto, but the start of construction is still at least five years off, depends on support from a future government and carries an estimated price tag of between $60-billion and $90-billion. The Globe's Bill Curry writes that Mr. Trudeau said the project will support the country's steel, aluminum and copper industries at a time when Canadian resource sectors are facing tariff threats from the United States. He also said the line will allow trains to reach speeds of up to 300 kilometres an hour and dramatically improve travel times between major centres in Quebec and Ontario. Wednesday's announcement of $3.9-billion for a five-year planning phase is the latest step in a long-running debate over high-speed rail. Via Rail has been proposing similar projects since as far back as 1984. Ottawa has now selected a group called Cadence to move ahead on a "co-development phase" for a fully electrified high-speed-rail line covering roughly 1,000 kilometres. The Cadence group includes the Caisse's CDPQ Infra, Atkinsrealis, Air Canada, Keolis, Systra and France's SNCF.