April 28, 2009, 5 e-mails

S. R. wrote:

Thank you to all who were at Queens Park yesterday for Question Period.

Here is the Hansard of Cheri's question to Transportation Minister Jim Bradley.

Hansard April 27, 2009:
GO TRANSIT
Ms. Cheri DiNovo: My question is to the Minister of Transportation. Over the past two months, GO's west Toronto diamond piledriving has subjected residents to an unacceptable, ear-splitting noise. By all accounts, residents have suffered from vibrations equivalent to earthquakes of a three to four magnitude on the Richter scale. After the piledriving, Metrolinx plans on running over 400 dirty diesel trains per day, instead of the 40 running currently, along these same tracks.

Minister, why are you willing to put the residents of Toronto through such torture? Hon. James J. Bradley: It's an interesting way to describe it. May I say first of all, as I did previously in the House-and I've said this to Tony Ruprecht, the member for Davenport, to yourself and to the federal member Gerard Kennedy-t his is indeed not a minor complaint for the people who reside in the area. It's a very genuine complaint. I have spoken to GO Transit about it. They recognize the concerns of the area residents. That is why they have begun meetings with affected neighbours in order to deal with each of the residents concerned. GO and its contractor are looking into a variety of technology designs and noise mitigation strategies. Different machinery, for example, is soon to be tested, and new sound mitigation strategies, including movable noise barriers, are being considered. GO, I am informed, is hopeful that it can improve the situation for area residents-

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you, Minister. Supplementary? Ms. Cheri DiNovo: Minister, GO has been consistently unwilling to meet with residents regarding the damage they are causing to citizens, and Metrolinx, as you know, should be using electric trains when this project is completed. We all want affordable, clean public transit, yet we cannot build that infrastructure while causing permanent harm to residents in Toronto.

Minister, mediation is not enough. Will the government commit to stopping this project immediately until residents' voices are heard?

Hon. James J. Bradley: The great difficulty is, as the member would know-and I appreciate that Mr. Ruprecht and yourself and Mr. Kennedy represent people affected by this; I appreciate that very much. It's a major challenge, however, to try to build public transit which your political party, our party and at times the Conservative Party have been in favour of over the years. I know that we're trying-at least GO Transit is-as much as possible to mitigate those concerns. They're keeping a community liaison on site all day, every day. There is regular communication with you, and we delivered notices to all residents explaining the construction. We held two full days of public information centres and we continue to actively look for ways to lessen the impact of noise on the community and try to schedule work during daytime hours and to follow the city of Toronto's noise bylaws. It is a very difficult situation; I understand that-

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you, Minister.

W. K. wrote:

AT APPROXIMATELY 8:45 THIS MORNING A MALE INDIVIDUAL CAME INTO THE OFFICES OF MRC AND SMASHED A CARTON OF EGGS AT THEIR DOOR. THERE WERE ALSO DEFAMITORY COMMENTS LEFT ON THE CAR OF ONE OF THE EMPLOYEES OF MCR. THE PERSON WAS CAUGHT ON CCTV, THE POLICE HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED AND CHARGES WILL BE LAID IF THE PERSON IS CAUGHT. EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW THAT THIS TYPE BEHAVIOUR WILL NOT BE TOLERATED AND WILL ONLY DAMAGE ANY EFFORTS BEING MADE TO NEGOTIATE WITH GO TRANSIT AND WILL TARNISH THE CREDABILITY OF THE GROUP.

THIS IS A MOST STUPID ATTEMPT AT INTIMIDATION AND IF ANYONE KNOWS WHO IS RESPONSIBLE, THEY SHOULD STRONGLY ADVISE THEM TO IMMEDIATLY STOP.

C. V. wrote:

What does MRC stand for? Which offices are you referring to? How are we to know this was a member of the Hook Avenue Piledrivers group who carried out this reactionary behaviour? It could have been anyone in the radius of the piledriving who just got frustrated with the constant noise and vibrations.

W. K. wrote:

MCR is the project manager for the project. I am not suggesting that anyone in the group has done this, but everyone should know that it happened.

I agreee that there are trenendous frustrations, I just don't think this is the way to go about getting a point across. You never want to loose the moral high grund.

Jutta Mason wrote:

I'm thinking that a carton of eggs and unpleasant comments on a car (a piece of paper under the wiper? written in egg yolk?) will not in themselves undermine attempts to get GO to use screws instead of hammers. Also, charges for smashing eggs will not be severe and a slur on a car is not actionable unless there was property damage. And the moral high ground is a lonely spot if the banging just keeps going. (It was certainly impressive this morning, at Dufferin and Bloor).

Here's an interesting story: I've heard that Jane Jacobs and her friends tore down the construction barriers to the New York throughway they were trying to stop - repeatedly, because the construction crews were prohibited by law from working without barriers. Jacobs and the others were arrested, and Jane Jacobs could have been sentenced to 7 years in jail. They did it because Robert Moses would not listen to them. (I'm going to get a book out of the library to check this story.)

My source tells me that the judge declined to sentence Jacobs to seven years in jail. And eventually the neighbourhood-busting road-building stopped. But in the face of powerful intransigence, these kinds of activities are not always polite, eh?

S. R. wrote:

I absolutely concur that this kind of action is useless and will not move us forward.

Write a letter, demand meetings with the Minister of Transportation, support the various community groups locking horns with GO.

Let's not forget Jane Jacobs moved to Canada because it's a more civilized place.