Meetings held in closed session, surplus property lists kept secret, and ignoring the will of City residents. Making decisions on issues of their own choosing, then expecting us to go along with whatever they decide. Determining, without our input, which of our neighbourhood parks, greenspaces, open space, and parkettes should be surplused. This is our City Council.
The fight to save Junot Park from development is far from over. We say this because the City didn’t stop the development proposal at Junot Park, the proponent did. The City still considers Junot Park, or at least part of it, “surplus”, which means it’s available for public sale.
For those of you not familiar with what the City is up to with our parkland, we wrote about it in our piece “Selling our Parkland Since 2023”. In short, on March 20, 2023, thanks to a memo written by Councillor Etreni, she and the rest of our City Councillors along with our mayor, thought we had so much extra land that they could get rid of some of it. So, they directed City Administration to prepare a report identifying city-owned lands, including parkland, that they could surplus and sell off for development. Parkland is a term used by the City and includes parks, greenspaces, open spaces, parkettes etc.
As directed, City Administration prepared a surplus property report and delivered it on September 18, 2023 to Committee of the Whole in a closed session, aka behind closed doors/no public allowed. We would like to point out that City Council (and previously, Committee of the Whole) routinely uses s.239(2) of Ontario’s Municipal Act to close meetings or parts of meetings to the public, although it’s not a requirement to do so in most circumstances. Regularly dealing with issues behind closed doors evokes an aura of secrecy, which in turns leads to speculation by city residents about what is happening and why. It also increases the distrust many residents have of our City Council and of our City Administration. When it comes to surplussing our parkland, that distrust is warranted.
According to records that are publicly available, 40 city-owned parcels of land, including parkland, were included in City Administration’s initial report. We requested a copy of that report via a Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) request, but as the report was provided in “closed session”, our request was denied. Simply put, City Council doesn’t believe in transparency. It doesn’t believe its residents have a right to know what goes on behind closed doors. They wield the Municipal Act like a veil of secrecy, going into closed session to discuss and make decisions about OUR city. In that September 2023 closed session, our City Councillors directed City Administration to proceed with the surplus and sale of city-owned lands, including parkland, that were listed in that report. Yes, Council’s decision was made public, but not the details. As we all know, the devil is in the details.
What we also know from other MFIPPA requests that we filed, is our City Councillors weren’t content with the initial 40 parcels, they wanted to surplus even more. So, in February of 2024, a “second round of surplus lands” was identified by City Administration. This second round identified approximately 44 parcels of land labeled “parkland & open space”, 53 parcels labeled “vacant land”, and 8 parcels labeled “parking authority”. lands. In reviewing this second round, we found that parkland, greenspace, parks, and parkettes across Thunder Bay have been targeted for surplus. No neighbourhood has been spared. It doesn’t matter if the parcel contains an existing park or playground, paved multi-use trails, or even a beautiful garden. The City has launched a full out assault on our parkland.
Like the parkland and greenspaces that have already been sold for development, City residents won’t find out whether their favourite neighbourhood park, greenspace, open space, or parkette has been targeted for development until the Surplus Notice gets posted by the City. We’re not meant to know ahead of time because the City knows we’ll push back. They know we don’t want our parkland surplussed and sold for development. For example, Mayor Boshcoff, in the March 20, 2023 Committee of the Whole meeting stated “We know that the inclusion of parkland is a red, red flag…antagonizing people at this time is probably something we don’t need more grief on. One of the critical things that makes this such an amazing city is our viewscapes and our parklands.” Or, for example, Councillor Etreni’s reply to a Facebook post where she wrote “I want to reassure you that nothing is moving forward on highly used or valued parkland.”
That assurance means nothing. City Council ignored the many Thunder Bay residents who opposed the surplussing of a highly used and valued parkland at 791 Arundel St. They ignored the more than one-hundred residents who attended the ward meeting and signed a petition. They ignored the residents who made deputations, and wrote letters. City Council didn’t value the parkland at 791 Arundel St even though hundreds of residents did and still do. Junot Park is considered highly used and valued by City residents, yet City Council considers it surplus. As we’ve stated before, 791 Arundel St was just the beginning, but Junot Park proves it won’t be the last.
Keep up to date on the City’s targeting of parkland by following TBay Greenspace Preservation on Facebook and on our website. Help us fight the good fight. Call your City Councillor. Demand they stop surplussing our parkland. This October, make your vote count. Ask the candidates their views on selling off our parkland. Demand more of our City Council, more transparency, more listening to the will of the people. This is our city. This is our parkland. Let’s make sure we protect it for current residents and for future generations.