2023.MM11.39

Background

The City of Toronto and the province were meant to work together on future projects regarding the Ontario Place. Recently, the province has announced that it will not ask the city's permission to remove trees in areas such as the East Island and Mainland Island, with later plans affecting the  West Island. The province has already contracted companies to help remove the trees. As the city rules are not being followed, required rules and checks, such as heritage studies and environmental assessment, are not completed before work begins. The planned tree cutting range also includes land owned by the city, where the rules must be applied.

Source: City of Toronto

Item Description

• The City of Toronto confirms the importance of protecting trees on city-owned land and the removal of these trees is required by law to follow rules outlined by the City of Toronto.
• City staff are required to report to the next council meeting and explain what rules and studies need to be done before any trees can be removed at the Ontario Place. 
• City Solicitors must report to the next council on what legal action the city can take based on the previous point.
• The City Solicitors have permission to take legal action to protect the interests of the City if any trees are removed from city land or the Ontario Place. They will then report back to the Council on what actions were taken.

Source: City of Toronto

Proposed by

Deputy Mayor Ausma Malik, seconded by Councillor Dianne Saxe