Hello fellow petition supporters,

Well we all know the saying, "It isn't over until it's over"? It would seem we are trapped in it for now.

The Toronto Humber Yacht Club has filed a Judicial Review of the City of Toronto's decision to end the club's lease at 101 Humber Valley Road. Although this should be a relatively routine affair, it now appears the Ontario Attorney General intends to intercede in the proceedings on THYC's behalf.

Below please find my email to Hon Downey, Hon McCarthy and Hon Fairclough asking for clarification on the reason the province is taking this drastic step. 

My ask of you is if you feel so inclined to let the above know of your concerns, please email them asking for clarification as well.

I've included doug.downey@pc.ola.org,  lfairclough.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org, todd.mccarthy@pc.ola.org, James.Maloney@parl.gc.ca, councillor_morley@toronto.ca, mayor_chow@toronto.ca

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Dear Hon Downey, Hon McCarthy and Hon Fairclough,

My name is Jason Sills and I’m contacting you regarding the “Notice of AG Considering Intervention” in the Judicial Review filed by the Toronto Humber Yacht Club (THYC) asking the courts to review the City of Toronto’s decision not to renew the club’s lease at 101 Humber Valley Road.

I have grave concerns that the provincial government is once again meddling in the City of Toronto’s efforts to protect the environment and its work to create a liveable city for all in favor of serving the wants of a few well connected individuals. With this in mind, I’m contacting you to try to understand your reasoning and objectives for interfering in this municipal matter.

I with the help of other concerned community members have been working tirelessly to have the city reject THYC’s request to renew their lease do to many lease violations and community safety concerns which began to occur in 2019 when the club elected a leadership team with an aggressive expansionist agenda without regard to the community’s concerns, without appropriate consultation with the TRCA and without approval from the City of Toronto.

Issues include but are not limited to:

• Drastically increasing hardscape coverage on the property to expand parking and create patio spaces along the entirety of the shoreline the club occupies
• Erecting gazebos along the entirety of the shore
• Almost doubling the number of yacht docks between 2019 and 2026
• Installing 25-30 Jet Ski docks and increasing Jet Ski membership accordingly

The club’s actions negatively affected:

• Wildlife: 
  -as they covered over what was once a thriving nesting ground for turtles & ground nesting birds
  -Increased noise pollution which impact wildlife in the ravine
• Environment:
  -Increased pollutant laden runoff into the river due to the increased hardscape coverage

As part of our efforts to encourage the City of Toronto to reject THYC’s lease renewal request we started a petition which has 2833 signatures to date. I have also managed a facebook group called Revitalize the Humber to help keep the community informed of our efforts.

It should be noted the Humber River is designated a Heritage River due to its exceptional beauty, historical significance (such as Indigenous history or the fur trade).

I look forward to hearing from you soon so I can inform the community of the province’s intent in this matter.

Thank you for your time and attention,