Developers in Toronto are blatantly and brazenly flouting City rules on protected trees. They push through maximum variances to the code, and during excavation, “oops” accidentally damage root systems of otherwise healthy and mature trees. Tree is deemed unsafe and taken down. Fines are no deterrent. At an average of 0.02% on a multimillion dollar house, developers simply build it into their costs. Our City Council aims at tree replacement, not tree preservation. Often replacement trees are planted far away from the city where their cooling effect is most needed. Fact: one 100-year old tree sequesters 150x the CO2 of a piddly sapling. 

With climate change staring us in the eye, we cannot afford to lose one more healthy mature tree  For all our sakes, and importantly, for your children and grandchildren, support this petition and ask City Council to check developers’ greed by forcing them to (a) build well back from protected trees, (b) levy a fine equivalent to 2-3% of property value if a protected tree is damaged, (c) reduce the minimum girth requirement so more trees can be protected. 

In my neighbourhood of Bedford/Lawrence  Park, I walk past lot after teardown lot razed of its healthy and mature trees for mammoth single family homes that do nothing to address Toronto’s housing crisis. I live next door to one such lot. If we don’t act now, we are looking at losing our once verdant city.