Councillor_Perks@toronto.ca , councillor_morley@toronto.ca , asli.mumin@toronto.ca , matt.cook@toronto.ca , aysha.ahmadjan2@toronto.ca , mohamed.osman@toronto.ca , mayor_chow@toronto.ca , thomas.kakamousias@toronto.ca , johanna.kyte@trca.ca , Lauren.Grosberg@toronto.ca , Joseph.Sergnese@toronto.ca

Would you rather a peaceful paddle or a chaotic adventure of avoid those jetskis?

Reaching out again asking for your support, please review the follow FB message I posted to get the most up to date info and of course please keep sharing our petition and emailing stakeholders!!! We're coming down to the wire, let's not lose the race at the last minute!!!

It seems I’ve been posting a lot here recently and I apologize for overwhelming you all with information.

I’ll start by once again requesting your support for our petition and email campaign to ask the city to remain firm on their decision to end Toronto Humber Yacht Clubs lease on the shores of the Humber River. 

In addition, it seems the club has engaged a PR consultant, Vanessa Stalony (check her out on Instagram), to craft their petition and social media presence (she’s done a stellar job btw, more on that later). Based on the influx of THYC members to this group, it would also appear she is orchestrating a social media campaign to try to take control of the narrative. 

The club clearly has the resources to hire lawyers etc where as I’m part of a small group of volunteers passionate about protecting the Humber River, with that in mind it would be greatly appreciated if you support our vision that you add your comments when club members engage in misinformation.

I’ve also been monitoring the club's google reviews and it’s pretty clear the club is inundating google with positive reviews to try to undo the damage of 7-8 years of abuse towards the public by club members has had on their rating there. With this in mind, if you’re able to share your opinion of the club on google as well it would be greatly appreciated. Please be factual if you do report.

Realistically the only avenue the club has to change to the city's position (other than their PR & legal team) is to try to reshape the narrative to present themselves as a positive influence on the river and within the community. It’s clear from both the petition and the social media campaign that they are hoping to erase the club's most recent history (7-8 years worth of history) and lean into their storied history,  let’s not allow that to happen.

Now fasten your seatbelts as I do my best to address the issues I have with the “new vision” the club purports to have.

The first thing one will notice when reviewing Vanessa’s petition is it’s almost total focus on the club’s historic role within the community while completely ignoring the actions and behavior of the club over the last 7-8 years.

So lets jump in, to my knowledge the first public establishment on the site was a “tea house” at the end of the 1800’s into the early 1900’s. An interesting tidbit of information is that during prohibition it’s reported many illicit activities were engaged in at the club due to its relatively isolated location (remind anyone of the last few years?).

It was then taken over by a gentleman who rented out rowboats and canoes (remind anyone of what we’re hoping to create minus the rentals, i.e. not for profit paddle club).

In 1955 the rowboat/canoe rental operation transitioned into the Toronto Humber Yacht Club and has operated as such since then.

It should be noted that at its inception and up until 7-8 years ago the club operated as a small local boat club with a lot of ties to the community, offering lessons to locals etc. By all indications they were welcoming and respectful of their neighbors and worked diligently to protect both the property they occupy and the river itself.

Their approach changed drastically 7-8 years ago. In that time they engaged in an aggressive expansion of the club. They covered over the vast majority of greenspace on the property in hardscape (as can clearly be seen in the side by side aerial images of the property from 2015 and 2025) to increase winter boat storage, provide summer parking and creating areas to erect personal gazebos along the entirety of the shoreline they occupy. Much has been made by THYC members of the definition of what constitutes “hardscape”, of the environmental impacts of the “hardscape” they used to cover over the vast majority of greenspace but little acknowledgement of their actions or the intent and effect of those actions. It is also blatantly obvious in the side by side images that the club has crammed ever more docks on the shoreline they occupy and have extended their gas dock ever further north. Again they argue they care for and maintain the shoreline diligently but it’s clear once again their actions don’t map onto their claims.

Not so obvious in the pictures is the section of woodland the club cleared to expand their boat trailer park (as if they didn’t have enough parking already) at the entrance of their driveway. They’ve made many excuses for this, a tree fell, there was a fire, the woodland was actually a part of the lease property etc. Yet to my knowledge they paid a fine due to their actions and rather than remediate the damage they did to the woodland, they erected plastic fencing around the space and to this day continue to use it for boat trailer storage.

So although the club would have one believe they are staunch protectors of the environment and the river, their actions tell a very different story.

Now let’s address their statement that they are welcoming and respectful to all in the  community. I’ve attached a few google reviews to demonstrate my point here. It’s very clear from the reviews and other stories I’ve heard since becoming active in our efforts to have the club lose its lease, that 7-8 years ago the tenor of the club completely shifted. It went from being an inclusive community oriented space to an exclusive cloistered space, to the point if members of the public dared enter the property they were faced with aggression and threats from club members. Again, even in the face of these public declarations the club argues they “never have and never would” act unwelcoming to the public. I’ve also heard it argued that it was just one rogue individual who created these situations, here I should point out that individual was elected and then re-elected yearly by the club's members to be club commodore for 7-8 years straight. Hard to believe the club didn’t approve of this fellows approach given they consistently re-elected him to lead the club.

So this brings us where we are today.

Toronto Humber Yacht Club received their notice of non-renewal on June 30 of this year. Their lease officially expires on July 31 of this year. The final vote on city staff's recommendation to end the club's lease will take place in late fall of this year. Only after the final vote is taken will the lease be considered officially terminated, until that time the club is on a month to month lease. 

This is the reason the Toronto Humber Yacht Club is currently desperate to rebrand itself as a paddle club and is offering rock bottom prices on their paddle membership. But let's examine what this includes. Paddlers are not given an opportunity to vote for the club’s board of directors or the club commodore. I paddled by the paddle dock this morning (pics attached) and it’s about 12 feet long stuck at the end of the club’s gas dock crammed against the base of the ravine.

I’d like to address how paddle members will be treated by the club should the club get an extension of their lease but first I’d like to talk about the elected leadership of the club.

In January of this year club members elected this year’s board of directors and the aforementioned commodore to lead the club for the year. Sometime around May or June the club became aware of my group's efforts to end their lease and in an effort to appear to be listening to the communities concerns the elected commodore stepped down and allowed a “new” commodore to assume the role. It should be noted the elected commodore is still very active and well respected within the club. It should also be noted that this fellow still holds a lot of influence on the board as at least two close associates sit on the board (this was reported via a “game of telephone” type situation so I may be wrong but I’m sure a club member will correct me).

So let's think about how paddle club members might be treated should the club get its lease and the club leadership reverts back to what it was in January of this year? Any ideas? I’ll leave the floor open.

Now I would like to address some personal issues. THYC club members have accused me of wanting their club gone so I can open a personal business on the property. To be clear, my preference would be returning the property to a completely natural state but as that is not likely a “Not for Profit” community paddle center is the next best option. To my knowledge, I’m not sure how one would gain personal profit off such an entity but maybe THYC members can enlighten me. I’ve also been accused of lying in my communication around THYC and their actions. You’ll note that I’ve provided pictures to back up my claims. Then of course you will note I’ve been accused of some sort of “some millennial cancel culture type of crap “ (I’m flattered to be considered a millennial though). I’m not sure it’s clear to THYC club members but I’m far from the only individual working to have their lease rejected. I will grant you that I’m the public face of the group but that is because my fellow group members fear reprisal as they live, work and take part in recreational activities in the community. Given the well documented history of aggression and threats the club has made toward community members, I understand their concerns.

I could go on but it’s time for me to get ready for work…