I am commenting on the…

I am commenting on the proposal for an interim combined sewer to support development at 955 Lakeshore Boulevard (Ontario Place).

I am opposed to this as firstly, it goes against decades of work by the City of Toronto to remove combined sewers across the city and prevent and leakage of raw sewage into Lake Ontario, an extremely important piece of nature and leisure to Ontarians.

Secondly, there are national and international agreements in place to protect water quality and biodiversity, and making this change to the sewer systems would go against these.

Finally, the effluent that would enter Lake Ontario due to these combined sewers would be dangerous to human health given the water quality at beaches and in fishing areas would be impacted. Further, poor water quality makes this area less attractive for travellers and locals who come to Lake Ontario for the views and nature access.

Overall, this proposal is meant to benefit and expedite a process that is for private sector initiatives, and is not in the public interest or in the interest of our environment at a time of great biodiversity loss. The change also goes against existing agreements to protect our Great Lakes. Ultimately, it would be another assault to safe, accessible, and public natural areas in the Toronto area and beyond, when Ontario Place, a once publicly available natural area, is already being taken away for private sector interests.