authorizing it to building a railway line between Perth and Toronto. It was effectively controlled by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), as 95% of the shares issued were held by persons connected with the CPR. Through the O&Q, the CPR created its railway network in southern and eastern Ontario: it amalgamated with the Credit Valley Railway, which had also acquired a 999-year lease to a railway line from London Junction Railway. CP sold to O&Q its line from Perth to Smiths Falls O&Q leased from Toronto Grey & Bruce Railway for a term of 999 years its rail line running from Toronto northwest to Owen Sound and other points O&Q purchased from Atlantic and North-west Railway a part of its railway system in Quebec thereby providing a connection to the province's railways O&Q received authorization to amalgamate with the CVR, TG&B, A&NW or Canada Southern Railway, or acquire or lease any of their lines, in order to provide a through service between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal Parliament approved a preliminary agreement between the CPR and CVR, O&Q and A&NW to provide for the leasing of lines in order to provide for a through route between Montreal and St Thomas. Lease of operations to CPR The CPR formalized its association with the O&Q by obtaining a 999-year lease on it in 1884, expiring in 2883. By 1890, this lease gave the CPR an extensive network in Ontario and Quebec, with lines reaching between Quebec City and Windsor, Ontario, as well as a line running from near Ottawa to a connection with the CPR at Mattawa, Ontario. The CPR never owned all of O&Q, a fact that caused legal problems when it attempted to sell off some O&Q real estate in Toronto that had become quite lucrative. However, the CPR won the court battle, which went to the Supreme Court of Canada. While O&Q and the TG&B had always been operated as part of the CPR network, they were finally amalgamated to form the St. Lawrence and Hudson Railway in 1998, as a consequence of a corporate reorganization undertaken by CP. References Canadian Pacific Railway subsidiaries Defunct Ontario railways Defunct Quebec railways Standard gauge railways in Canada