The Human Train rolls through our neighbourhood
Human Train: The Human Train approaches the Wallace Ave. pedestrian bridge.
On Saturday September 26th 2009, the "Human Train" rolled through our neighbourhood on its way from Weston to Sorauren Park. Organized by the Clean Train Coalition, the Human Train was a rally against the Metrolinx / GO Transit project to run over 400 diesel trains through West Toronto neighbourhoods, and to demand the immediate electrification of the Georgetown rail corridor.
The Human Train left Weston at 8:30 in the morning, and made stops in various neighbourhoods along the way (Mount Dennis, The Junction, etc.) before arriving at the Wallace Ave. Pedestrian Bridge along the Railpath in our neighbourhood shortly after noon. At the Wallace Ave. bridge, a large gathering of local residents cheered the arrival of the Human Train, welcomed the marchers to our neighbourhood, and rallied up support for the Clean Train Coalition's cause.
Our local rally on the Railpath under the Wallace Bridge attracted about 100 area residents, many parents with their kids, a group of musicians who kept the crowd entertained, face painters for the kids, and refreshments courtesy of city councillor Adam Giambrone's office.
Local resident Scott Dobson addressed the crowd and spoke about the neighbourhood's previous battles against pollution, as well as the amazing positive impact of the new West Toronto Railpath, which could all be knocked back if hundreds of diesel trains start passing by every day.
After the rally at the Wallace Bridge, the Human Train continued south to Sorauren park, via the Railpath, Perth Ave., Dundas St., and Sorauran Ave. The final rally down at Sorauren park was huge, with estimates ranging from 500-1000 people. Speeches by local politicians, activists, and Toronto's Medical Officer of Health Dr David McKeown helped drive home the point that the huge expansion of diesel rail traffic is unhealthy and unwelcome in our neighbourhoods.
Continue reading below for links to media coverage, videos, and many more photos of the event.
How was your own experience of this event? Do you think it will have any impact on the GO / Metrolinx plans?
Click the photos to see larger versions.
Human Train - Wallace Bridge Banner: Local residents hang a Clean Train Coalition banner on the Wallace Ave. pedestrian bridge.
Human Train - Skeleton Kid With Sign: A child, dressed as a skeleton, holding a placard.
Human Train - Wallace Bridge Band: A band plays some music under the Wallace Ave. pedestrian Bridge while we wait for the Human Train to arrive.
Human Train - WallaceBridgeBand: Looking down from the Wallace Ave. pedestrian bridge at the band who were playing while watiting for the Human Train to arrive.
Human Train - Chalk Drawings: Local kids drew images of dirty diesel trains.
Human Train - Face Painting: A young girl gets her face painted while waiting for the Human Train to arrive.
Human Train - Wallace Bridge Crowd: Part of the crowd gathered under the Wallace Ave. pedestrian Bridge
Human Train - Go Electric Placard: A protester carrying a "Go Electric" placard under the Wallace Ave. pedestrian bridge.
Human Train - Diesel Is Dirty Placard: One of the marchers carrying a "Diesel is Dirty" placard.
Human Train - On the Railpath behind Viceroy: The Human Train coming south down the Railpath, behind the old Viceroy factory just south of Dupont St.
Human Train - Scott Dobson's Address: Local resident Scott Dobson addresses the crowd and speaks of some of our community's concerns about the diesel train expansion.
Human Train - Leaving Wallace: The Human Train departs from the Wallace Ave. pedestrian Bridge, and heads south towards Sorauren Park.
Human Train - Railpath and Bloor GO Station: The Human Train on the West Toronto Railpath, passing GO Transit's Bloor Station.
Human Train - Bloor And Perth: The Human Train at the corner of Bloor St. and Perth Ave.
Human Train - Bloor St. and the Railpath: The Human Train on Bloor St., passing an entrance to the West Toronto Railpath.
All photos by Vic Gedris. A complete gallery of my photos from this event can be found here.
Other links:
- Diesel fumes unhealthy, MD tells train protest, Toronto Star, 2009-09-27
- Sally's Hewson's photos on Flickr
- Gary Beechy's photos
- Clean Train Coalition has many more photos, videos, and media links from the event.
Comments
Proposal Shortcomings
Steve Munro has an excellent summary of the Environment Minister's conditions for the Metrolinx project and does a great job explaining the shortcomings in detail. It's a must read! http://stevemunro.ca/?p=2705
Voodoo Trains
The disappointing announcement from the so-called Environment Minister made the front page of today's Globe and Mail http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/rail-link-to-pearso...
While the headline writer appears to buy-in to the government's ridiculous claim that they are putting "strict conditions" on the project, the reporter is quick to point to the fact the Minister is telling Metrolinx to buy technology that doesn't even exist.
tears for tier 4
I just wrote a letter to the ministers and the premier, and am posting it here to encourage others to do the same. Here are the addresses as well: jbradley.mpp@liberal.ola.org ; jgerretsen.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org; dcaplan.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org. For Mcguinty, you need to go to his site and enter your comment on the feedback page, but so far that hasn't been working for me this morning. Maybe it's jammed with irate messages! www.premier.gov.on.ca
To the ministers of health, environment, and transportation, and the premier,
I was dismayed to hear of the minister of the environment's failure to protect our health in his decision against electrification. Even if Tier 4 diesel was acceptable, the technology isn't available yet, and Metrolinx has been given the easy out, and is only held to Tier 4 "when they become commercially available." I am appalled. So are my neighbours. Some of us trusted the government to protect us. Now you've lost a whole corridor of votes. Hundreds of trains a day worth.
Kristen den Hartog
Perth Avenue
Toronto
Community Protests Diesel: Ruprecht and Silva Missing In Action
It was very noticeable at the recent Human Train Rally that 2 of our 3 elected representatives were not present to support the community.
From Gerard Kennedy (who initially tried to avoid this issue but has seen the light) to Olivia Chow and Adam Giambrone, politicians and a school trustee and the Toronto Medical Officer of Health all spoke to the large crowd made up of West Enders potentially effected by Metrolinx' s dirty diesel. They all had one clear unified message: electrify the expansion from day one and spare all the communities from the dangerous pollution diesel will bring. Its too bad that we showed up in numbers but our representatives didn't.
Tony Ruprecht, who claims on his website to be a champion of environmental issues, was nowhere to be seen. In fact, since he initially made some comments months ago, he has vanished on this issue. He runs the other way when people mention it to him on the street and refers people back to a letter he issued months ago. This may not be surprising given that his own Liberal government shortened the EA process on one of the largest infrastructure projects in decades from 18 to 6 months. Given the concerns of the Toronto Officer of Health and the TDSB maybe lying low is a good idea but 25 years of future diesel pollution will keep his memory alive.
Mario Silva handlers have claimed to me all along that as the are federal MP he had no jurisdiction in the matter. Public comments by his fellow federal MP Gerard Kennedy show that this is not the case as Kennedy pushes the case for a federal EA and lambasts the Metrolinx "consultation" process as a sham. Silva's handlers in Ottawa claimed to me that he knew nothing about the rally which is hard believe considering it was promoted for 2 months and everybody else seemed to get the message. Sadder still for Silva is a flyer that arrived in residents mailboxes AFTER the protest which had a section called "Clean Transit For Toronto". This hastily put together section clearly shows that Silva has no idea what he is talking about in terms of this issue. The errors are too numerous to list but here is one:
"Through increased mobility and efficiency, and lower congestion and wait times, Toronto residents will be able to move more easily and quickly through our city."(Because of the Metrolinx project). This doesn't make any sense as the rail expansion primarily serves people living outside of the Toronto area and those going to the airport from downtown. With only one stop along the way this project does almost nothing to help residents of Toronto move around. In fact one of the issues from residents has been that this project is just a dirty diesel expressway with little effect for us except pollution. Silva never acknowledges any of the concerns or recommendations that the community has been asking for a long time such as electrification of the route and addition of stops. He states that "More trains means less cars" which in this case is not true. He states in a powerful vagueness that he is awaiting the EA results even though the Toronto MOH report has been out for over a month.
The health and environmental issues posed by the out of date Metrolinx plan is a disgrace and like 30 years ago when residents fought for this community's survival in the face of industrial pollution we once again find ourselves under attack needing all the help we can get.
So far, Tony Ruprecht and Mario Silva have fallen short of the standards set by those who rallied years before and do so again. Shame.
OMBUDSMAN CALLED ON TO INVESTIGATE METROLINX
OMBUDSMAN CALLED ON TO INVESTIGATE METROLINX
Metrolinx suspected of using tax dollars to mislead public on eve of Environment Minister decision
October 4, 2009 (Toronto): On the eve of the Ontario Environment Minister’s decision on Metrolinx’s proposal to run over 450 diesel trains a day through some of Toronto’s most densely populated neighbourhoods, Metrolinx appears to be spending thousands of Ontarians’ tax dollars on an attempt to misinform the public about the Toronto Medical Officer of Health’s concerns about diesel train expansion plans.
An unconditional approval of Metrolinx’s current proposal for service expansion on the Georgetown South/Union-Pearson rail corridor would mean that 464 diesel-exhaust-emitting trains would run daily through 12 Toronto neighbourhoods, home to over 300,000 people.
Diesel exhaust is a known threat to human health, especially of children and seniors, and is linked to cancer and respiratory diseases. Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr. David McKeown, has clearly stated that using diesel for the rail expansion on the Georgetown Corridor will pose a health risk to nearby residents. He also stated that electrification is the only proven mitigation measure for this health risk.”
Yet Metrolinx recently issued a mass distribution of newsletters to homeowners that portrays Dr. McKeown as supporting a diesel-train expansion solution, which he does not.
Findings about respiratory health impacts and lung cancer are completely ignored in this Metrolinx newsletter, as is the recommendation by the Toronto Medical Officer of Health that electric trains are the best way for the project to deal with the unacceptable health risks of using diesel technology in this situation.
The Clean Train Coalition believes these tactics are highly unethical and the latest episode in a discredited public consultation process. Further, because such a massive disinformation campaign is being waged with tax dollars, the Coalition today called for an investigation into Metrolinx’s possible misuse of public funds by formally registering a complaint with the Ontario Ombudsman.
“It is an outrage that Metrolinx has used thousands of dollars of taxpayers’ money to misconstrue Dr. McKeown’s position and to wage a public relations campaign of mistruths days before the Minister of the Environment makes a decision on the Metrolinx project,” stated Keith Brooks, Clean Train Coalition spokesperson.
The Clean Train Coalition, a community group advocating for the implementation of expanded service on this rail corridor using electric trains, is hoping that the Minister’s announcement will ensure that the Georgetown South rail expansion project is built using electric trains and not diesel locomotives, a call echoed by the estimated thousand Torontonians who participated in the “Human Train” rally on September 26.
The Minister of the Environment’s decision is due to be announced by end of day on Monday, October 5.
-30-
For more information, please contact:
Clean Train Coalition Spokesperson: Keith Brooks 416-702-9597
Media Inquiries: Carina Cojeen 416-886-2320
Copies of the two Metrolinx letters sent to households across west Toronto should be available from Metrolinx on their website.
The actual statements and backgrounders released by Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health are available at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LE7OQ2Wz9g (Dr. McKeown’s statements are around the 3:00 minute mark)
http://www.toronto.ca/health/moh/pdf/metrolinx_backgrounder.pdf
For further information on The Clean Train coalition, please see www.cleantrain.ca.
"Metrolinx Fudges Clean Train Info"
Transit advocate Steve Munro posted an excellent article on the weekend:
Metrolinx Fudges Clean Train Info
Munro does a great job of pointing out the facts that Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr. David McKeown submitted to Metrolinx, but Metrolinx turned around and only used selective quotes from that letter to trump up their own agenda. Make sure you read Munro's article for the details.
It's also worth noting that Metrolinx has taken these selective quotes and circulated them on their own flyers delivered throughout our neighbourhoods last week and this week.
You can also see Dr. David McKeown's speech at the Human Train rally, which is now posted on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr4e99oBhv4
The way that Metrolinx is spinning these comments is making me feel like there's some truth to those Dalton McGuinty / Snidely Whiplash posters that I've seen around the neighbourhood.
Clean Train in NOW magazine
NOW Magazine has a short article with a great photo of the Dupont St. bridge., as well as an embedded video of the rally:
http://www.nowtoronto.com/daily/story.cfm?content=171486