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Bulletin
SAVE UNION STATION, Bulletin No. 2, October 10, 2002.
********* 1. Actions – what you can do right now. There are two suggestions of actions you can take right now to save Union Station. First, please write the mayor, with a copy to Councillor Doug Holyday (and one to us at j.sewell@on.aibn.com) asking that the full documents on the Union Station bids and staff reports be made available immediately. Paper copies seem to have more impact than e-mails – the address is Toronto City Hall, Toronto M5H 2N2, fax 416 395 6440. As you’ll note from Item 2 of this Bulletin, several dozen people have already done this. The mayor needs many more letters on this issue. Second, you can begin contacting your councillor about support for a public process to review heritage aspects of Union Station. See Item 3 of this Bulletin for further information. 2. Taking the secrecy issue to the mayor. On Thursday October 10, in the early afternoon, our group took its first issue. Seventeen members of the group attended at the mayor’s office to present personal letters requesting that the secrecy end, and full information about the bids be made public. Numerous people had reported they were unable to attend, and in all there were about 40 separate letters to the mayor on the issue.We were unavailable to meet the mayor – we were simply told he was unavailable – nor could we meet a member of his senior staff. We were promised the mayor would see the letters, and we decided that if the mayor had not responded within a week, we should call his office (416 395 6464) and ask when a reply will be made. Copies of these letters were then presented to the executive assistant of Councillor Doug Holyday, chair of the Administration Committee, through which the Union Station matter is being processed. It was expected that Mr. Holyday would be at City Hall to meet with the group, but after fifteen minuets we were told than he was going to be detained at a meeting outside the building. Lisa Rochon of the Globe and Mail was there – she’s given excellent coverage to the issue over the past six weeks – and so was CBC Television. A media statement describing what occurred was released later in the afternoon to Toronto media. Members of the group are encouraged to send letters to the mayor with a copy to Councillor Holyday, and a copy (for our files) to j.sewell@on.aibn.com . 3. Putting teeth into heritage protection Cathy Nasmith, a member of the group and a former chair of the city’s Preservation Board, has looked closely at the protection available to heritage aspects of the Station. She writes in a letter to the mayor and several councillors: “I believe the best protection for Union Station is to ensure that the approval process for alterations is fully public. “I have read the Heritage Easement Agreement with the Federal Government and the Heritage Guidelines that were released with the Request for Proposals. Both of these documents offer a great deal of protection. My question is: how will they be enforced? “As I understand it, the City of Toronto will be reviewing applications for alterations to Union Station and forwarding recommendations on to staff in Parks Canada; the Minister of Canadian Heritage being the final approval authority. In reading the background documents it is not clear to me what the process for review at the City will be before recommendations are sent on to the federal government. “All alterations to buildings designated under the Ontario Heritage Act must be reviewed by the Toronto Preservation Board. The TPB recommendations are forwarded to City Council. Prior to TPB review, a report is prepared by staff and discussion occurs at a public meeting of the Toronto Preservation Board. This system ensures that Council has the benefit of expert public comment on the applications as well as the benefit of staff advice. As I understand it, even though City Council passed a motion to designate in 1975 Union Station, was never designated under the Ontario Heritage Act. It was designated under the Railway Act. “Earlier protection measures are superceded by the more recent Heritage Easement Agreement. I assume that unless Council specifically requests the advice of the Toronto Preservation Board on alterations to Union Station, the TPB is not empowered to review these matters. It is also not clear, if the process is not managed through the TPB, whether any opportunity for public comment on alterations will exist. “In the interest of ensuring that this most important of Toronto’s heritage buildings receives every possible consideration, I am asking you to ensure that the process for making alterations to the building is fully public, and that the Toronto Preservation Board be requested by Council to provide advice to Council and to the Minister of Canadian Heritage on alterations and additions to Union Station. Changes to this building should have more, not less, public scrutiny than other designated buildings in the City of Toronto.” This issue was discussed with Councillor David Miller, who the group ran into at City Hall on Thursday. He agreed in principle to place a motion before City Council when it next meets on October 29, either designating Union Station under the Ontario Heritage Act so that this process of public review by the Toronto Preservation Board would begin to click in, or stating that the process that will be used in giving advice to Park Canada and the Minister of Canadian Heritage will involve public staff reports considered publicly by the Toronto Preservation Board, followed by the normal public council process for considering the decision of the TPB. Mr. Miller is considering which way of proceeding makes the most sense, and will then put the appropriate motion on the order paper. Our job will be to talk to councillors to ensure that the motion passes. This is a matter that each of us could begin to raise with our councillors as the opportunity presents itself – once the motion has been finalized, we’ll have to be much more forward in pressing for wide support. 4. Timing City staff responsible for processing the reports on the Union Station lease arrangement are now stating that at the November 5 meeting of the Administration Committee they expect only to have a progress report, not a final report. If this is really the case, it means we can prepare to make presentations to the committee demanding that the veil of secrecy be lifted instead of negotiations continuing in the back-room. 5. Web site status Work is ongoing to get the web site - http://www.saveunionstation.ca - up and running as quickly as possible. We hope that some of the site will be up by close of day on October 11, and that other parts of the site will be operational just after Thanksgiving. When fully completed, the site will have useful information, updates on actions, a place to subscribe for the Bulletin, links to media stories, photos, and more. The success of the site will depend on your help and suggestions. 6. Pass on the Bulletin Please send this Bulletin to your friends and suggestion they subscribe to join I the action to save Union Station. The more individuals linked together taking action, the better chance we have of ensuring Union station serves a public transportation purpose which enhances the heritage aspects of the structure, in the foreseeable future. When the web site is operational, instructions will be posted about how to subscribe to the Bulletin. Until then, send a message to j.sewell@on.aibn.com As well, we need your ideas. Once the web site is operational, please write us at info@saveunionstation.ca with your ideas. Until then, use j.sewell@on.aibn.com - end - |
Contact Us: info@saveunionstation.ca