STOP THE TRAINS
IN OUR PARKS

OUR COMMUNITY DESERVES WORLD CLASS TRANSIT AND OUR GREENSPACE

Let’s end environmental racism and protect our urban parks and forests

We need your support in our fight for environmental justice.

Most of the 9.2km Eglinton Crosstown West Extension (ECWE) LRT line will be buried underground, except for a planned 1.5km elevated segment through Eglinton Flats in the Mount Dennis neighbourhood: one of Toronto’s most culturally diverse and economically-disadvantaged areas in west end Toronto. Residents in the neighbouring affluent area of Etobicoke were consulted and successfully lobbied for that segment of the ECWE to buried. Metrolinx never consulted residents in Mount Dennis and told us their plan was done deal. The current design of the ECWE threatens the Greenbelt-protected Humber River and will destroy an irreplaceable network of urban green spaces and 1,500 trees. This loss would be devastating to some of the most at-risk populations in Toronto.

To be clear, we support expanding public transit in our area. This segment could be built underground or along the road, which would the save time and money.

Lawyers and activists agree this is a case of environmental racism and have agreed to help us once seed funding has been secured.

What are trying to protect?

The 1,500 trees Metrolinx plans to clear cut are a flood and erosion protector, sound barrier, cool the parks in hot weather, a wildlife corridor to the Humber river system and home to Threatened and Endangered species. These parks are used for ceremony, education, recreation, and contribute to the mental well-being of the residents within our community and across the city. With over 5,000 new residential units planned to be built in our community over the next 10 years we'll need our parks more than ever.

How can you help?

Every dollar counts in the fight against environmental racism. Donations over $10 will receive a tax credit.

DONATE NOW

A view of the parks from the summer of 2022.

Metrolinx started tree removals in Dec. 2023.

You can also get involved by volunteering with our Save Eglinton Flats Coalition. Email us at stopthetrainsinourparks@gmail.com to learn more about how you be a part of fighting to protect to our parks and trees for generations to come.

Join us March 7 at Queen's Park!

Most of us value green spaces, public transit, and want our children to grow up in a society that treats them fairly regardless of skin colour, postal code, or class. But Metrolinx and the Provincial government have side stepped Mount Dennis’s call for world class transit AND saving its urban forests and parks, all while providing preferential treatment to affluent neighbourhoods.

NDP MPPs Joel Harden and Jill Andrew support our grassroots coalition to save Eglinton Flats from destruction by Metrolinx. They have invited the Mount Dennis Community and allies to Queen’s Park on Thursday March 7, 8:30 a.m., to share impact statements from our community, hold a press conference, and ask questions on our behalf during a Q&A period.

We all deserve world class transit and our green spaces, and we fight for a government that truly honours public consultation when building transit and housing. Sit with us in solidarity in the Gallery at Queen’s Park to stand up for the environment and equitable transit for all. Together, we can demand and win a government that respects the communities it says it works for.

In solidarity with the Mount Dennis Community and all the marginalized communities of Toronto!

Please RSVP at stopthetrainsinourparks@gmail.com

This is the greenspace and urban forest Metrolinx wants to destroy.

This mess is what we're trying to stop in our parks. (This photo shows the elevated tracks at Black Creek Drive and Eglinton Avenue West.)

About the issue

Join our Save Eglinton Flats Coalition

Metrolinx and the Ford Government presented their illogical and short-sighted plan to run a 1.5 km section of the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension (ECWE) as elevated tracks and stations through our parks as a done deal without any input from the local Indigenous community and residents. Metrolinx and the Ford Government could run this section (from Pearen Park to Scarlett Road) underground like the rest of the line, or along the road, which would save them time and money. Metrolinx and the Ford Government have ignored our community’s countless requests to consult on how to build the line.

Metrolinx plans to make Pearen Park a construction staging zone for years. The projected opening of the ECWE LRT line is 2031. Metrolinx plans to start clear cutting 1,500 trees before the end 2023 and have already fenced off large parts of Pearen Park, where kids played every day, and Fergy Brown Park. The ECWE is the western extension of the disastrously delayed and over budget Eglinton Crosstown.

Over the last year and half we’ve been trying to save our trees and parks, including Pearen Park, Fergy Brown Park, Eglinton Flats and the Humber River area, for everyone in our community. For nearly a year, we partnered with urban Indigenous organizations to take action to save the parks. The urban Indigenous organizations had a tipi and Sacred Fire in Pearen Park and were in Ceremony to honour the trees, until Metrolinx threatened to take legal action — which could have included hundreds or thousands of dollars in fines and criminal charges — if the tipi and sacred fire weren’t removed from the park.

The urban Indigenous organizations are going to focus on Ceremony and are planning for future Sacred Fires. Our Save Eglinton Flats Coalition continues our advocacy to protect our greenspace and will continue to support the Indigenous organizations' Ceremonies.

The 1,500 trees Metrolinx plans to clear cut are a flood and erosion protector, sound barrier, cool the parks in hot weather, a wildlife corridor to the Humber river system and home to Threatened and Endangered species. These parks are used for ceremony, education, recreation, and contribute to the mental well-being of the residents within our community. With over 5,000 new residential units planned to be built in our community over the next 10 years we'll need our parks more than ever.

WHAT WE WANT

No train expressway in our parks. Period.
Metrolinx to bury the trains underground in York South-Weston like they're doing in Etobicoke, or put them along the road, which would save time and money. Metrolinx and the Ford Government must consult with our community.
Metrolinx to provide transparency about the project - its costs, its size, and its impact.

YORK SOUTH-WESTON DESERVES THE ECWE
AND OUR GREENSPACE!

ABOUT STOP THE TRAINS IN OUR PARKS (STOP)

We are a group of York South-Weston residents who support the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension, but oppose putting a train expressway through our parks as part of the project. We believe greenspace should be for wildlife and people, not concrete and trains. We are part of the Save Eglinton Flats Coalition.

Learn More