A recent court decision has put over 1200 acres of green space back into the hands of public ownership

(Mount) Pleasant Victory
A recent court decision has put over 1200 acres of green space back into the hands of public ownership. This is a massive victory for residents, and if upheld on appeal, will help ensure these lands are properly managed and remain publically accessible.

On January 3, Justice Sean Dunphy of Ontario’s Superior Court handed an immense victory for residents in the Greater Toronto Area when he announced that the Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries (MPGC) was a charitable trust and not a private corporation. Justice Dunphy also ruled that MPGC had taken actions that overstepped trust rules by opening visitation centres and funeral homes.

MPGC runs several cemeteries in Toronto, including the 205 acre Mount Pleasant Cemetery and the 18 acres of Toronto Necropolis. In total, it has ten cemeteries that comprise approximately 1200 acres of green space, or about $2 billion in land and assets. Following a number of controversial moves MPGC took at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, I joined a lawsuit launched by the Friends of Toronto Public Cemeteries as a private citizen.

The origin of MPGC is the former City of York’s first non-denominational burial ground called Potters Field, in what is now Yorkville, purchased residents for $300 and established in 1826. Potters Field would later be moved to what is now the Toronto Necropolis. Rules for the appointment of trustees to the then Toronto General Burial Ground was created through a special provincial 1849 Act, which included a provision allowing citizens to elect trustees. This act has never been changed or repealed.

Since the 1980s, the trustees—changing the corporation name to MPGC and now calling themselves directors—stopped publically advertising the appointment of new trustees as required by the 1849 Act. In addition, the MPGC board had argued that they were not a charity, limiting potential oversight and scrutiny. The MPGC also advertised itself as a private entity and began changing historical landscapes, demolishing historic vaults, covering green space for funeral homes, cutting trees and using pesticides that were not permitted by our by-laws.

The impact of this ruling means that not only will there be more oversight into the operations of MPGC, but that approximately 640 acres of green space in the City of Toronto and 580 acres in the GTA are now owned by the public.

MPGC has appealed this ruling; they will not give up $2 billion worth of land and assets without a fight. But for now, take a pleasant stroll through Mount Pleasant Cemetery or the Toronto Necropolis; you own it after all.