For 60+ years, the Fort York National Historic Site has fired rifle and cannon blanks during daily military demonstrations every hour from 11:30 am- 5:30 pm, 5-6 days a week including Saturday and Sunday.

Why this has become a dire issue:

1. The gunshots are deep, loud, booming, and echo and bounce across the buildings, they are deeply intrusive and can be highly triggering, similar to fireworks going off beside your home 4-5 times a day.
2. The FYNHS is surrounded by 25-30 residential buildings and tens of thousands of residents.
3. The residential buildings in this area are 1-20 years old, meaning the FYNHS has not adapted or evolved to consider the needs of its rapidly evolving community- prioritizing the celebration of a 200+-year-old war over the wellbeing of current residents.
4. August 21, 2020 I received a reply from Anthony ManMahon after following up with FYNHS "The councillor and the staff of the historic site had discussions last year to address some of the issues with regard to the firing of rifles and cannons at the site, and many of the issues were addressed. I'll ask if there are additional measures they can take to mitigate the disturbance to residents. It may be the case that some of these measures were not adopted this year due to changeover in senior staff"
5. August 26, 2020 I received this update, "I was informed that all the previous mitigation with respect to The Fort York Guard and site-based military animation is in place, with a significant increase brought about because of the pandemic"
6. The 18-month long, ongoing pandemic has exacerbated mental health issues, homelessness, gun violence, political divide, and poverty, increasing local violence. Daily gun firing and celebration are completely inconsiderate to the trauma this community has been and will be facing through the coming years as we rebuild.
7. Our community includes a large number of refugees and immigrants who have escaped war and violence and are now experiencing the celebration of it in Toronto, arguably Canada's 'greatest city'.
8. In the context of Canada uncovering mass/unmarked graves of Indigenous children and babies, any celebration of colonial violence is offensive at best.
9. Residents and nearby park-goers are subject to roughly 20 gunshots every hour between 11:30-5:30 (approx 100/day) 5-6 days a week. This has severely impacted the peace and wellbeing of the residents and the reasonable enjoyment of the spaces we pay to live in. There is no way to have windows open, enjoy balcony and terrace spaces, or go to a nearby park without being subject to endless gunfire.
10. Recently, Sunday, August 8th, our community experienced another shooting that left 10 bullet casings at the Bathurst/Lakeshore intersection. Many residents were unaware because this very real and potentially deadly gunfire blended into FYNHS's celebratory gun show.

We are calling on the following local politicians and managers at Fort York to listen to the residents and remove the gunfire portion from their demonstrations immediately:

• Mayor John Tory- mayor_tory@toronto.ca
• Ward 10 Councillor Joe Cressy- Councillor_Cressy@toronto.ca
• Anthony MacMahon- Anthony.MacMahon@toronto.ca
• David O'Hara, Site Manager- DoHara@toronto.ca

Please share this petition if you agree that displaying colonial celebrations of gunfire in a city dealing with a spectrum of trauma, poverty, homelessness, and violence during this pandemic needs to end immediately. 

Please help the residents eliminate a source of stress and anxiety from our neighbourhoods.

Thank you.