I have been working on the issue of repatriating Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries, a corporation of the Crown of Ontario, for over 4 years. I did so as a Board Member of the Moore Park Residents' Association (MPRA) and then for the past year and a half as the Chair of the Cemetery Committee for the MPRA. Although after 5 years of service I retired from the MPRA in January 2009, the issue of repatriating Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries back to the citizenry who paid for it remains an important issue for both myself and the community. It is my belief that if the regulatory bodies of the Provincial Government continue to not perform their duties and the legislative arm does nothing to update the archaic and vulnerable 150+ year-old legislation governing Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries, that Ontarians are at risk of losing a priceless public asset.
Why does this matter?
It matters in the short term because the citizenry, who paid for the cemetery originally, are no longer in control of it - and have absolutely no say in what goes on at Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries any more. As a result we see serious decisions which affect the citizenry, such as land use and whether to include pollution controls on crematoria, over which the citizenry no longer has any control. Instead all control lies with a small group of people who are no longer elected according to law.
It matters in the long term because Ontarians could face the disappearance of 1,200 acres of open space and 184 years of Ontario's history into the private sector - and without any remuneration to the public who paid for it. It is my belief that although the spirit and intention of the legislation is clear, it is so archaic that "Toronto's First Public Ownership Trust" has become vulnerable to dissolution, sale and distribution of the proceeds of the assets to a very small group of private individuals.
How does this get fixed?
'Accountability and Transparency to the Public' must be restored as per the spirit and intentions of the governing statutes, which the-people-who-call-themselves-the-governors-of Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries no longer obey. Ironically, the champion of responsible government in Ontario himself, William Lyon Mackenzie, was involved in the creation of Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries - which is supposed to have governance responsible to the people! The Province of Ontario is aware of the fact that the current governors of Mount Pleasant Cemetery are not elected according to law and are no longer responsible to the citizenry.
The Province must either enforce the 150+ year old archaic law that is still in force, or must repeal and replace it with something appropriate for the 21st Century that reaffirms the trust and ensures accountability and transparency to the public.
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How was this information and situation discovered?
A “due diligence” research phase was undertaken by the Moore Park Residents' Association (MPRA) in 2005 in response to Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries’ proposal to build a 24,000 sq. ft. Visitation Centre and 80-car parking lot on green space on Toronto’s Kay Gardner Belt Line/Discovery Walk and documented animal and bird migration corridor. This development is located where Moore Avenue and Welland Street meet the northern tip of the Moore Park Ravine.
Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries circulated a marketing flyer for the Visitation Centre that stated they were allowed to proceed with such a project because they are a “commercial privately owned cemetery” and “private property.”
During a trip to Bora Laskin Law Library, what I discovered was even more surprising than Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries’ development plans!
The cemetery, originally named the York General Burying Ground, was created in 1826 as a Trust through Public Statute by the provincial legislature and paid for by the citizens by subscription! In 1871 the Province of Ontario vested the objects and assets of the Trust into a corporation of the Crown.
There are provisions in the statutes for the community to provide input into the selection of board members. However, at a Community Meeting facilitated by Councillor Kyle Rae and video taped by the MPRA on May 21, 2006, Norris Zucchet, President and CEO of Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries, was asked by a Moore Park resident: Who are the members of the board? Mr. Zucchet responded that “it’s none of your business.” (Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries has recently added the names of their board members to their website.)