Hello petition supporter,

I'm forwarding you my latest email to the stakeholder who are most likely responsible for reviewing/renewing Toronto Humber Yacht Club's 20 year lease. The more I engage with people while paddling the Humber River or walking my dog through Kingsmill Park the more disgusted I am with our politicians & bureaucrats and the more committed I become to stop THYC having 20 more years of enfettered access to destroy the Humber River & Ravine.

Please keep reaching out to stakeholders and forwarding this petition to friends and family!!! The move voices shouting out enough is enough the more chance we have of being heard!!!

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Lauren.Grosberg@toronto.ca, Joseph.Sergnese@toronto.ca, Councillor_Morley@toronto.ca, thomas.kakamousias@toronto.ca, johanna.kyte@trca.ca, mayor_chow@toronto.ca, Mohamed.Osman@toronto.ca, Matt.Cook@toronto.ca

Hello again,

The more time I spend talking to people as I'm paddling the Humber River or speaking to my neighbors as I walk my dog through Kingsmill Park, the more disgusted I become with City of Toronto politicians and bureaucrats who continually opt to work in the interests of private for profit entities rather than working to provide the best quality of life for the voters of Toronto.

It is very obvious the current Commodore of THYC has connections within the city's political elite and or the city bureaucracy. I've been aware of this fact for quite some time as I communicated a year ago that when the off-leash park was originally planned for Kingsmill Park, it was supposed to be located in the north field away from the public boat launch etc. But the current Commodore of the club announced this would never be because he felt it was too close to HIS club, lo and behold when the off-leash area was opened it was in the south field which is surrounded on three sides by a road way and boat launch parking. It is also in an area that increases conflict with the general public as logically picnickers will congregate closest to the parking and boat launch while the north field stays empty. Score one for the club's new commodore.

In speaking with my neighbors, I've learned a few of them were hounded out of the club because they raised concerns regarding the way the club was abusing the land upon which it sits as well as changing from a local boat club to a drunken party spot for people living outside of our community. And many others voluntarily left the club to avoid conflicts.

It's become very clear to me as these changes within the club were happening they were reported to the City of Toronto, Toronto Regional Conservation Authority, Toronto Bylaw and Toronto Police.

At every stage of the club's transition the community's concerns were ignored. Reports to 311 regarding the covering of the property with hardscape were met with silence. When people forced the issue they were given the usually political run around and blame game. The City of Toronto said the land belonged to TRCA. TRCA said the lease was managed by Toronto Parks. Toronto Parks said it was a private club so not under their jurisdiction. Toronto bylaw informed citizens that as the club is on private property (it's not by the way) they have no authority over it.

When the public reported safety concerns around the unsafe operations of water craft being used by THYC members, both the city and police failed the public yet again. The city stopped looking into the complaints when THYC lawyers sent a letter stating "It wasn't us". The city just rolled over and played dead vs pursuing and active investigation. The Toronto Police Marine Unit let us know there was nothing they could do because of a technicality the Humber River has no enforceable speed limit, a fact THYC members take full advantage of.

When the public called 311 with noise complaints due to the all night parties the club is now famous for, the police did not prioritize those complaints as THYC is a private club in the middle of a park. When citizens took it upon themselves to go to the club to ask THYC members to turn the music down they were met with threats of violence and told to leave the property.

But of course all of this information and more is not coming out because the city refuses to hold public consultations regarding the many issues THYC poses for the surrounding community.

Adding even more frustration is the complete lack of information surrounding the land the club sits on or the conditions of the lease.

In speaking with Toronto Park Staff, most think the club owns the land and therefore Toronto Parks has no authority over it. In speaking with TRCA staff, they think the land is owned by the City of Toronto so their regulations don't apply to the club.

To date, it has been impossible to get a straight answer from anyone within the city regarding just what is going on with THYC. Thomas Kakamousais has yet to respond to a single one of my emails  to even acknowledge whether or not he is in fact responsible for reviewing/renewing the lease. Johanna Kyte from TRCA hasn't responded to any of my concerns other than to direct me to Toronto Parks. Toronto Parks doesn't respond to any emails so I'm not even aware of who in Toronto Parks would be responsible for managing the lease. City politicians don't respond to anything directly. They let their staff handle communication, if you can call "for legal reasons we can not to give out any information" (this while THYC continues to flout TRCA & City of Toronto environmental regulations as well as disregarding any and all safety regulations while operating watercraft on the Humber- apparently laws only exist to protect for profit private entities vs existing to protect the general public).

I truly feel I'm screaming into the abyss as City of Toronto politicians and bureaucrats keep their silence which only leaves me believing they have every intention of extending THYC's lease for another 20 years and those responsible are hoping they can slip that extension through under the cover of secrecy.

The lack of clear communication for voters is completely unacceptable. We deserve straightforward answers to questions and meaningful actions to address our concerns.

1/ What entity owns the land THYC occupies
2/ What department/individual within the entity which owns the land is responsible for monitoring and ensuring the lease conditions are being met
3/ What are the lease conditions
4/ What environmental regulations apply to the property THYC sits on and what regulatory body is responsible for enforcing those regulations
5/ What punitive actions are available to apply to THYC to force it to abide by it's lease conditions and to adhere to applicable environmental regulations
6/ Where in the process of determining "best use of public lands" is the public actually going to be consulted

Once again thanks for your attention to this matter and I look forward to responses to clarify what is happening with THYC's 20 lease renewal.