Power line meeting sheds little light on proposed Leslieville route

By Duncan McAllister –

The mood was tense at the Matty Eckler centre on Gerrard St., during a standing-room-only community meeting Apr. 24, as local residents arrived to voice their concerns about the proposed hydro transmission line that may or may not run through Leslieville.

Peter Tabuns, MPP Toronto-Danforth opened the meeting: “We called this meeting to inform the community and frankly, to start mobilizing the community.”

Throughout the meeting, there seemed to be a lack of focus; of specifics, in terms of the types of questions and answers, and little in the way of solutions being offered up by residents or the panel.  Energy conservation was by far the most important solution being discussed here.

Jack Layton briefly addressed the crowd by speakerphone from Ottawa, and Tabuns introduced two guest speakers, Steve Schreiben, an environmental lawyer and Jack Gibbons, a Riverdale resident and member of the Ontario Clean Air Alliance.  

Gibbons showed a presentation based on data from a report issued by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA).  One slide showed a map proposing three routes that may possibly be under consideration.

“They refuse to tell us the exact streets that it will go along.  They have told us the general outline of where it will go.” Gibbons says of the OPA.  “We’ve had to generate our best estimates based on that information, what the exact routes are.”

1. Route transmission lines south through the Don River Valley into PEC.
2. Have a hydro line running down Pape Ave., across Eastern and into PEC.
3. Branch south along Donlands to the bottom of Leslie St., and then on to PEC.

“Those are three possible routes.” says Gibbons.  “There are other possible routes — it could go down Carlaw, it could go down Jones, it could go down Logan, but I would say that these are the three most likely routes.”

It remains to be seen whether these will be the actual routes proposed by the province and the OPA, or whether they are trying to hide an unpopular bit of business, just before election time.

The Don Valley alternative was not very popular with the panel because of concerns for the environmentally sensitive Don River area, amongst other things.  However, because of an existing high-voltage transmission line running through the valley, it would make sense to parallel the new line onto the existing.  Very little was mentioned of the Don Valley route during the meeting.

This community has been frustrated by the OPA and Hydro One refusing to publicly state their preferred routes, causing great uncertainty and anxiety for community residents and stakeholders.

In a town hall-like format, residents took up the mike to address the panel with their concerns, although few specifics were raised.

A few of the “regulars”; community activists anxious to mobilize against the next initiative, voiced their opinions, although they had little reliable information to go on.

Leslie Ashton who lives on Pape, asks the panel how and why they suppose these routes to be selected.  “Is it a question of geography?  I wonder why Donlands, Pape?  Is it just a question of direct route?”

With rumours of 10-storey steel towers and underground pipelines increasingly worrying area residents, it would be easy to see this as an emotional, not-in-my-backyard issue.

“I don’t want transmission lines.  I think we’ve suffered enough in my neighbourhood,” says Suzanne who lives on Pape and doesn’t want power lines running through her backyard.  “We don’t want it, and we didn’t want the power energy centre either, and we weren’t successful in stopping it.”  She asks why they keep mobilizing and opposing these initiatives, only to see them implemented anyway?

Dr. Hilary de Veber, a pediatrician at the Toronto East General hospital, lives close to Withrow Park.

“I’m a Member of Canadian Physicians for the Environment. I got involved in this whole environment thing because of the pesticide debate.  She reminds them, “We won that debate, and it’s a great, great example of how the community can do huge things to take control of their health.”

As a physician and an advocate for children, she’s very concerned about the transmission line as well as the portland energy centre and asks, to a round of applause, “I’d like to know what each of us can do going away from tonight so we don’t feel this energy is dissipated and we can move on and help fight this.”

Tabuns said they will be starting a campaign to stop the power lines.  He asks people to talk to their neighbours, “because there’s people who don’t know about this”, and to send an email or letter to the premier saying “don’t do this – stop now”.

Ontario minister of energy, Dwight Duncan denied any intention to run a hydro line down Pape Ave.  From the Hansard earlier that day, he said “The member for Toronto-Danforth, along with the leader of the federal NDP and a city councillor, put out a flyer that they’re circulating, saying that a $600-million high-voltage transmission line is proposed down Pape Avenue into the Portlands.  That’s completely false.  It’s inaccurate, false; it has never appeared in any formal or informal government document.”

In the meantime, the power line will be slated to run through somewhere until this community can effectively mobilize their opposition.