Toronto City Councilors,

My name is Jason Sills and I have lived in the Old Mill and Bloor area for close to sixteen years. I moved to the area because as an avid outdoor enthusiast and amateur wildlife photographer, the Humber Ravine is a perfect (and rarity in Toronto) location for me.

I’m contacting you regarding GG27.14 - Renewal of Various Boat Club Leases. Specifically I’d like you to vote against the amendment to the Staff Report entered on March 8 to continue THYC’s month to month lease and to instruct Parks to move forward with working to have THYC vacate the property promptly.

The following image (image above) clearly shows the extent to which THYC expanded since 2018 when the new leadership team took over the club.

It is clear to see the club covered over the vast amount of greenspace visible in 2015 by 2025. 

They did so to: 

• increase parking for members in the summer months and increase space for boat storage in the winter months. They gave no thought to the effects on the health of the river as the hardscape significantly increased run off from the property into the river.  
• covered over the entirety of the shoreline the club occupies with hardscape and then erected gazebos along the entirety of the shoreline. This destroyed what was once a vibrant nesting area for ground birds and turtles along the shores of the Humber. In addition the gazebos are a blight on the shores of the river as they are crowded together and crammed full of odds and sods. It should be noted when I pointed out the issues with the gazebos a member flippantly mentioned he needed shade during the summer months. He seemed not to have realized the clubhouse as a covered patio and the club paved over a lawn that once had table and patio umbrellas that provided shade for members.
• double the number of docks to increase membership for private boats.
• added a significant number of jetski docks (note there were not JetSkis prior to 2018)

It should also be noted this expansionist agenda was pushed through by the club’s leadership team against the wishes of the community, without consultation with TRCA and without approval by the City of Toronto. In fact instead of working in collaboration with the club chose a belligerent and litigious approach amounting to, If the lease does not explicitly prohibit an action then we will go ahead regardless of anyone else’s wishes.

As leadership acknowledged in a  July ‘25 Toronto Star article, 

“What Girimonte said he did have was a lot of membership requests from jet skiers.

He went full-throttle on jet skis and similar personal watercrafts, allowing more of them into the club than ever before, even approving membership applications from people whose only boat was a jet ski, because he said the club needed to raise money for repairs.”

Also:

In his statement to the Star, Girimonte stated, “I acknowledge my mistakes and that I’ve made enemies in defence of this club.” (It should be noted what he is referring to is leadership's belligerent and aggressive attitude/treatment of community members who voiced their concerns about how the club was operating.)

Even with their leadership team publicly destroying the club's reputation in the community, members voted to keep the team in their place in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. This is clear evidence club members approved of the leadership team’s approach to pushing through the club's aggressive expansionist agenda against all opposition by all means necessary.

It should also be noted when given the choice between working with the community to come up with an acceptable compromise to show the club was serious about improving their relationship with their neighbors, members voted against such an idea:

“Attendees of the meeting, which included all club members, say it was loud and tense. In the end, Girimonte persuaded the club that Seenarine had charted the wrong course for lease renewal. They didn’t need to clean up their act. They need to get lawyers involved to pressure the local councillor.”

In conclusion, I hope you will vote to end THYC’s lease and have city staff work with THYC to have them vacate the property promptly.

Thank you for you time and attention to this matter,

Jason Sills

Supporting photos: (photos can be found at (Revitalize the Humber on FB)

Gazebos Lining shoreline    Hardscape covering shoreline

Lawn club replaced with hardscape   Jetski Rental Operation homebase

Background info to explain how I become involved with:

Although I’ve been aware of THYC for the entire time I’ve lived in the area, it’s only been the last five years or so that I’ve really started to notice how toxic the club has become both to the river itself as well as the community. To demonstrate just how toxic the situation has been allowed to become, I’ll outline the two instances which galvanized my commitment to see THYC lose the lease they hold on public land.

1/ In early May of 2024 while kayaking the Humber River I discovered THYC had moored a significant number of floating docks at the base of the Humber Ravine north of their property line.

It should be noted THYC had no right to moor their docks outside of the property line but as with all endeavors they just did it because they feel entitled to the entirety of the Humber River.

In my frustration I called 311 to file a complaint which I was told would be forwarded to the appropriate department to be dealt with.

I waited four weeks to see some action being taken on the part of THYC to remove the docks before contacting 311 for a second time. This time I was informed the city was well aware of the issue and had many complaints about the situation. I was also informed to expect significant delays as THYC was notorious for ignoring requests from the city.

True to 311’s word, it took another month or so for THYC to remove the docks they had no right to moor at the base of the ravine to begin with. I would like to point out I was there the morning they went to work removing them and this was my first personal experience with how belligerent and entitled this group really is. As I was landing my kayak at the public boat launch, club members were yelling at community members who were trying to use the public boat launch as well. They seemed to feel they had a right to sole use of the public launch as an extension of their club.

2/ The second event which truly made me understand the need to have THYC removed from the shores of the Humber River occurred on Canada Day Weekend 2024. As I was paddling up to the public boat launch in Kingsmill Park, I saw it was very busy with families launching kayaks, canoes, paddleboards etc. Of particular note was a family of four who had launched two inflatable kayaks and were approaching the ninety degree turn in the Humber just south of the launch heading north. 

To my shock I heard and then saw a JetSkier race around the corner at such a speed the wake their craft created was almost as high as I am tall. To the JetSkiers credit, he was able to maneuver the craft such that he narrowly missed the family in the kayaks but could not avoid swamping their kayaks with his wake. To my dismay, instead of offering any apology the woman clinging to the back of the JetSki operator laughed hysterically. Far from being reprimanded when he docked his JetSki at THYC, the fellow was met with laughter from members on their docks and offered a beer. And to make matters worse he scared the family so much they turned their kayaks back to shore instead of enjoying a paddle down the river on a beautiful day.

This instance was the perfect representation of the ethos of the club, they believe the river belongs to them and they are free to use it in any manner they wish.

These two experiences caused me to start chatting with other paddlers on the river as well as other community members as I walked my dog with Kingsmill Park. It took very little time to realize THYC had been taken over by a leadership team who were committed to an aggressive expansionist agenda and who felt the best way to silence community concerns was through aggressive and bullying attitudes.