Province will plant ’10-fold’ the number of trees cut down by Metrolinx: Ford

While the fate of a dozen 200-year-old trees at Osgoode Hall remain in limbo, Premier Doug Ford assured Ontarians on Wednesday that the province would plant ’10-fold’ the number of trees cut down by Metrolinx to accommodate the new Ontario Line.

“I just want to build infrastructure that’s going to carry millions of people over decades, and we are going to plant many more trees,” Ford said at Queen’s Park on Wednesday.

“We will make sure that we get a subway built and we will be planting 10-fold whatever trees are taken down.”

Ford said tree removal is an unavoidable part of progress, but his government plans on doing it responsibly.

“It’s all part of infrastructure,” he said. “No matter where you go in the city at one time or another to build infrastructure a tree may come down, but again we’ll plant many, many more for years to come.”

Court puts pause on Metrolinx plans

Last week, an interim injunction stopping Metrolinx from cutting down any trees at the Osgoode site was granted. It remains in effect until midnight February 10, 2023 unless extended by further order of the Court.

In May it was revealed that the space around Osgoode Hall would be used to build a station entrance at the northeast corner of University Avenue and Queen Street West, where the mature trees currently fill the space.

In a blog posting last week, Metrolinx said the decision to remove the historic trees at Osgoode Hall was not made lightly and only after multiple other options were explored. The provincial agency claims a recent independent analysis commissioned by the City of Toronto supports its decision.

While some transit advocates have suggested moving the location to the middle of University Avenue, Metrolinx says that option would impact the existing Yonge-University subway line, forcing it to shut down for several years.

“There are also numerous power, gas, and telecommunications lines under the street that would need to be avoided, which ruled out this option,” said Metrolinx.

“Metrolinx only removes trees that are absolutely necessary to accommodate construction, and the agency will plant three or more trees for every one tree removed for the Ontario Line project.”

Metrolinx recently cut down 61 mature trees in Moss Park as part of Ontario Line work, prompting NDP MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam to accuse the agency of “lack of transparency and accountability.”

“Shame on Metrolinx for taking advantage of some of the coldest weather we have experienced this winter as an opportunity to clear cut trees while many residents are forced to stay indoors to keep warm,” Wong-Tam wrote in a statement.

How can anyone trust @Metrolinx ? They betrayed promises to #MossPark and are seemingly unable to complete the #EglintonCrossTown. Why should we expect the #OntarioLine to be any different? https://t.co/yXcNrcmYz4

— Kristyn Wong-Tam (@kristynwongtam) February 5, 2023

The almost 16-kilometre, 15-stop Ontario Line was first unveiled by the Ford government back in 2019, expanding on the city’s initial Relief Line proposal. When completed, the line will connect with 40 other transit routes, including GO train lines, TTC subway and streetcar stops and a new east-west light rail line that is currently being built.

Metrolinx has pegged the total cost of the project at almost $11 billion and its projected to be operational by 2030.

With files from John Marchesan and Hayley McGoldrick