Say NO to BMX in High Park

To: Mayor Rob Ford, Members of Toronto City Council and all High Park Staff and Advisors.  
 

WE THE UNDERSIGNED, as members of the community at large and lovers of High Park, wholeheartedly disapprove of the proposed building of the BMX amusement area at the bottom of Spring Road, where the parking lot currently stands. The placement of the BMX course is adjacent to two sites identified and held by the Six Nations to be sacred, and are therefore highly esteemed. The building of a BMX skills park, in this location or any other within the boundaries of High Park, will no doubt result in damage to these Sacred Sites, and the relationship the city has with members of its Indigenous populations.

While there appears to have been intensive consultation with the BMX community in drafting this proposal, there has been absolutely no consultation, with the several Nations of Indigenous Peoples who hold this space as sacred and are therefore directly affected by this proposal. In fact, the whole problem of achieving recognition of the Sacred Sites in High Park, arises out of the persistence of archaeologists and the city consistently refusing to consult the Six Nations and other Indigenous groups concerned, who have historical knowledge or oral traditions regarding this land.  This knowledge should be informing scientific forms of investigation and ALL decisions pertaining to its use.

The Ontario Ministry of Heritage and Culture itself advises that all archaeology of Indigenous sites be done in respectful consultation with the Nations concerned and in fact, John Howard bequeathed this parkland to Toronto on the condition that The Six Nations remain the stewards of their Sacred Sites in the park. To date, this has not been done, other than where the concerns have been put forward by members of the Six Nations community and other groups, such as The Taiaiako'n Historic Preservation Society and Friends of Snake Mound.  

The Indigenous history of Toronto is at best fragile and in great need of support on all levels from community to government. The awareness of Indigenous sites where there is a history of certain   practices historically and currently associated with the land, has a positive impact on everyone in a city, while bmx'ing has positive impact on the minority of people who engage in it. The children and adults who used Snake Mound as an area to BMX bike were doing so illegally. They destroyed a very large area of rare oak savannah and trampled over sacred ground. Why is the city, whose budget is currently so terribly restricted, considering a special interest area to provide space for children and adults who have engaged in abusive, illegal and destructive behaviour?

The Toronto Police Services has made it clear that they do not support this BMX park either, therefore this is something we, in good conscience cannot support on any level and further, will not support any municiapl government which allows it to go through. 

While High Park may not provide the youth in its vicinity bmx'ing opportunities, it provides them many other positive outdoor exercise possibilities, not something that can be said for most other communities that don't have such parks. High Park has the added benefit of being a site where youth can become educated about the very important Indigenous history of this land, something we as citizens of this city and users of the park, feel is much more significant and necessary than a sport facility. The city and the Park should be featuring these Sacred Sites, setting them apart and protecting them and by doing so would hold the admiration of the global community and also preserve some of the last remaining Sacred Spaces of Indigenous Peoples along the shores of Lake Ontario. 
 

Finally, we have signed this petition to express our complete dissaproval of the proposed BMX skills park, to be built by the city of Toronto in the current parking lot at the bottom of Spring Road, in High Park. Please give us your assurance that this BMX park will not be built!

Signed: