‘I hope lessons will be learned from this’: Moss Park mourns the loss of 61 trees cut down by Metrolinx

While a temporary injunction has saved centuries-old trees at Osgoode Hall for now, 61 trees at Moss Park were cut down.

Thestar.com
Feb. 7, 2023
Dhriti Gupta

After Metrolinx cut down 61 mature trees this weekend to make way for a new station for the Ontario Line, Moss Park area residents held a funeral.

On Sunday afternoon, rumbling chainsaws supplied the soundtrack to the ceremony organized for the fallen trees by community members. Around two dozen attendees brought flowers, lit candles and read an obituary through a megaphone, said Diane Devenyi, a longtime Moss Park resident and co-organizer of the service.

“It was heartbreaking to listen to the cracking of the trees as they were broken apart and tossed to the ground,” she said.

The clearing of the 70-year-old trees came the same weekend as a judge granted an injunction blocking Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency in charge of building the Ontario Line, from removing 11 centuries-old trees on the grounds of Osgoode Hall until Feb. 10. In his written reasons, the judge said the order will allow the Law Society of Ontario to review a third-party report about the site, and also obtain a report from a heritage expert.

“It speaks volumes, which trees get sacrificed first ... it’s trees that are located in less privileged, racialized communities,” said Walied Khogali, co founder of Moss Park Coalition. “When I was at that funeral, I saw many tears, and some of them from Indigenous youth who felt so powerless.”

The last of the trees at Moss Park are cut down as Metrolinx prepares the site for construction on the Ontario Line in Toronto.

Henry Hong, a member of Friends of Moss Park, said he was disappointed that no legal defence similar to the one at Osgoode was mounted to halt the tree clearing in his neighbourhood. In fact, his community was given no notice when the trees would be coming down.

“On Saturday morning, we were surprised to see and hear trees being cut down,” he said, noting the noise was loud enough to set off car alarms.

Metrolinx didn’t respond to a request for comment on this story in time for publication. It previously told the Star it has “actively engaged” with the community through open houses, a walking tour and more than 20 community pop-ups and on-site meetings.

“The consultation meetings weren’t really consultations,” Hong said. “It was more about them telling us what their plans were.”

He also hasn’t seen the implementation of suggestions for more frequent and open communication by Metrolinx that were offered up by community members or even municipal politicians who are opposed to the development.

Metrolinx cut down 61 mature trees this weekend to make way for a new station for the Ontario Line area... so residents held a funeral.

Some Moss Park residents are advocating in a coalition called Build Ontario Line Differently (BOLD) to prevent more communities from meeting the same fate.

“Unfortunately, it’s too late for Moss Park,” Hong said. “I hope lessons will be learned from this,” referring to many more trees that are scheduled to be removed in areas like Ontario Place and the Greenbelt.

“How many trees are actually going to come down in the GTA before people stand up and start fighting back?” he added.

Devenyi noted a loss of “beauty, shade, cooling and habitat for wildlife,” in her obituary, especially concerned for those in the neighbourhood without shelter.

“Where are they going to go in the summer when it’s too hot?” she asked. “This was their refuge.”

Even with the trees gone, Khogali, Devenyi and others in Moss Park hope to preserve the little nature they have left, and help more affected by the Ontario Line construction do the same.

“What happens after is going to be critical,” Khogali said. “We don’t want to lose precious green spaces in the downtown core ... we will do whatever we can to get there.”