Royal Commission on the .~ Commission royale sur Future of the. ~ I'avenir du Toronto Waterfront. secteur riverain de Toronto "'.ADA 0".,. Commissioner Commissaire The Honourable David Crombie, PC L'honorable David Crombie, cp Executive Director and Counsel Directeur executif et Conseilier juridique RonaldL Doering RonaldL. Doering TO illS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR GENERAL IN COUNCIL MAY IT PLEASEYOUR EXCELLENCY By Order in Council PC -1988 -589 dated March 30,1988, I was appointed Commissioner to inquire into and make recommendations regarding the future of the Toronto Waterfront. 1 now beg to submit the attachedReport. ' Respectfully submitted. (::::=~{::::-L~~,"A.A..A..~ David Crombie Commissioner August 1990 171, rue Slater St, 11th Fk)or/1 l' etage 207 OJeen.s Quay West/Ouest .5th Floor /Soetage PO. Box/CP 1527 PO Box/ CP 4111 Station/ Succursaie "8" Station/ Succursaie "A" Ottawa, Canada K1P 6P5 Toronto. Canada MSW 2V4 Tel No/No de tei~phone (613) 990-3306 Tel No/No de t~lephone (416) 973-7185 Fax No/No de facslmll~ (613) 990-4345 Fax No/Node facsimiie (416) 973-7103 2 J l .""~ """~-_."".,,,,...~,-~~~ .. Royal CommissionFuture on of the ~ CommissionI'avenir du royale sur Toronto Waterfront. secteur riverain de Toronto c...o. o..~ Commissioner Commissaire The Honourable David Crombie, PC. L'honorable David Crombie, cpo Executive Director and Counsel Directeur exeaJtif et Conseiiler juridique Ronald L Doering Ronald L. Doering TO IllS HONOUR, nIB LIEU1ENANT-GOVERNOR OF nIB PROVINCEOF ONTARIO MAY IT PLEASEYOUR HONOUR: By Order in Council O.C. 2465/89, dated the 12thday of Octorer, 1989, I was duly appointed a Commissioner under the Public Inquiries Act. I am pleased to present to you the attached Repon of the Royal Commission on the Future of the Toronto Waterfront Respectfully submitted. (:::::=:~~:~t~~:::~.,~~~A4IA.t...:"-~ David Crombie Commissioner August 1990 171. rue Slater St., 11th Floorl11" etage 207 Queen's Quay WestlOuest ,5th Floor ISOetage P.OBoxIC.P.1527 P.O BoxICP. 4111 StalionlSuccursale '8" StatlonlSuccursale "A" Ottawa, Canada K1 P 6P5 Toronto, Canada MSW 2V4 Tel. NolNo de telephone (613)990-3306 Tel NolNo de teiephone: (416) 973-7185 Fax No I No de facsimile (613) 990-4345 Fax No I Node facsimile: (416) 973-71 03 3 Executive Director and Counsel Ronald L. Doering Assistant to the Commissioner Margaret Johnston Senior Director, Special Projects David Carter Director, Port Studies F. Shane Foreman Director I Community Relations Beverly Morley Co-ordinator I Environmental Studies SuzanneBarrett PolicyAnalyst GordonGarland Assistant to Counsel/Hearings Officer ScottW. Clark Assistantto the Senior Director, Special Projects DeborahWilliams Librarian/Head of Registry Monica Morrison Systems Administrator Marlaine Koehler Administrative Assistants GinetteBellefeuille JoanLea Publications Co-ordinator Andrea Short Editor SheilaKieran 4 FrenchEditor MargotCote Proofreader David Kilgour SupportStaff WesleyBirecki VeraKubelikova CarolynChung Charity Landon Anne Dixon Martha Lopez JanetHollingsworth JeanSinclair Soo Kim JenniferYoung Secondeesand Consultants Max Beck LouiseMadore-Payer Paul Beck Jim Maxwell JoeBerridge StephenMcLaughlin Jim Bishop ChristopherMorgan~ Brian Denney Lynn Morrow GeneDesfor Paul Muldoon NoreenDunphy Dan O'Hallora~ David L. Egar ChuckPautler Don Gamble Ron Reid Lino Grima SusanRichardson David W. Guscott Bob Shaw Andy Hamilton Ron Shimizu Neal Irwin PeterSly Beth Jefferson Ray Spaxman Carol Ketchum Laurel Spielberg JoannaKidd Mike Thorne Ken Lem Rob Tonus SimonLlewellyn Bob Woodburn Rob Lockhart JulianWoods JamesYoung 5 Preface 9 4. WaterQuality ~ 90 5. Lakefill ~ 96 1. Ecosystem ~~ 15 6. Restoring Fish, Wildlife, and The EcosystemApproach ~ 18 Natural Areas ~ 98 Ecosystemunder Stress: Greater 7. Trees in the City ~ 100 TorontoBioregion~ 21 8. Mandate of Conservation Conc Ius i on s~ ~ /"-. 45 Authorities ~ 10.9. UrbanWater-Based Form andCommuter Structure ~103 2. Principles 49 Transportation ~ 106 Clean ~ ~ ~ '- 51 B. Area-Specific Issues ~ J07 Green~ ~ "~ '- 53 1. Halton Region ~ J07 Useable~ ~ ~~ '- 59 2. City of Mississauga~ ]III113 Diverse ~ ~ '- 63 3. City of Etobicoke ~ -- ] Open ~ ~ ~ '-"-65"-"- 4. Toronto's Central Accessible ~ ~ ~~~~ 66 Waterfront ~~ ~120~146~150 Connected ~ ~ 72 5. City of Scarborough~ Affordable ~ ~ 76 6. Durham Region ~ Attractive ~ ~ ~ 77 Appendices 157 3. Regeneration~ 81 Appendix A: Orders in Council,-.. 159 A. Area-Wide Issues ~ 83 Appendix B: References ~ -_167 1. Implementingan Ecosystem Appendix C: Commission Approach~ ,~ 83 Publications ~ 2. WaterfrontTrai1~ ,- ~ 86 Appendix D: Illustration Credits ~ 3. Oak RidgesMoraine",-,,~- 88 Index ~185 7 ~102~175~179 On 1 June 1988,the Royal Commission In April and May 1990,the Commission on the Futureof the Toronto WateIfrontbegan held three series of hearings, in Burlington its work as a federal inquiry, the Honourable and Oshawa as well as in the Commission's David Crombie, Commissioner. Toronto offices, to hear opinions and ideas The Commission's mandate is to: from more than 100 groups and individuals. The Commission has established the make recommendationsregarding the Canadian Waterfront Resource Centre, future of the Toronto Waterfront, and which now has a collection of more than to seek the concurrence of affected 6,000 books, periodicals, pamphlets, and authorities in such recommendations, clippings. Subjectsinclude: economic devel- in order to ensure that, in the public opment, housing, the environment, public interest,federal lands and jurisdiction health,urban planning, transportation,parks, serve to enhance the physical, envi- recreational facilities, and information about ronmental, legislative and administra- the ways in which Toronto and other com- tive context governing the use,enjoy- munities, both in Canadaand elsewhere,use ment and developmentof the Toronto their waterfront lands. Waterfront and related lands. This report, Watershed, constitutes During its first year, the Commission the Commission's second interim report. published the reportsof five working groups, The Royal Commission on the Future of the as well as two research papers, one on the Toronto Waterfront will soon release Toronto Harbour Commissioners and the the work plan for its third year of operations other on the Toronto Island Airport. Its fIrst and will publish its final report in the Interim Report was releasedin August 1989. summer of 1991. From January to June 1989, the Com- mission held a series of public hearings on the major issuesit was considering,at which it heard from nearly 300 deputants. On 12 October 1989,the Government of Ontario, declaring that it "recognizes the importance of the Interim Report and rec- ommendations of the ...Commission ..." appointed Mr. Crombie to carryon his duties on its behalf -thus making the Royal Commission on the Future of the Toronto Waterfront only the secondfederal- provincial royal commission in Canadian history. Moreover, the provincial govern- ment askedthat he expandthe Commission's area of study to include the waterfront from Burlington to Newcastle and north to the Oak Ridges Moraine -in other words, the Toronto watershed. The Commission continued its vigorous publishing program and, by April 1990,had released a total of ten book-length reports, five working papers,five technical papers, the first Interim Report,and eightnewsletters. 11 At five o'clock in the morning in early July, the rain began, slowly at first and then with increased intensity. It struck roof tops and trickled down gutters, gathered on driveways, parking lots, and roads. Along its way, the swirling stormwater picked up animal feces and herbicides from parks and yards, as well I as asbestos,oil, and greasefrom roads.Before the rainfall ended, 4.5 billion litres of rain- water had gushed into the labyrinth of storm sewers under the metropolis. At seven o'clock, people began to rise, taking show- ers, brushing teeth, and flushing toilets in 1.5 million households.By eight 0' clock, when mosthad left for work or school,770 million litres of wastewaterhad gone down household drains and into the sanitary sewer system. Combined storm and sanitary sewerswere overflowing, and a noxious brew of stormwater and untreated sewage was flowing into local rivers or surging towards the sewage treatmentplants. By nine o'clock, the hopelessly overburdened treatment plants began to bypass partially treatedeffiuent directly into the nearshoreof Lake Ontario. Drivers sat in traffic with their windows closed, to avoid the exhaustfrom tailpipes, and listened to morning radio. "Heavier than usual traffic on the Don Valley southbound,the 401 westbound slow in both expressand collector lanes," the announcers said. Unseenby commuters, the brown and swollen rivers in the area disgorged their loads of sediments and toxic chemicals into Lake Ontario. At the river mouths,fisher- men tossed their catches back into the lake, mindful of the signs that warned againsteating fish. "Just a rerninder to stay out of the water at areabeaches for two days after this rainfall," the radio voices continued.By mid-morning, public health officials would be testing water at the beacheslining the waterfront; in less than a week, many would be closed to swimmers. "Cloudy this morning, sunny later with highs of 25 degrees." Along with the afternoon sunshine would come high levels of eye-stinging smog. "And cooler tem- peraturestonight, especiallynear the lake. All in all," said the news readers,"a prettyaverage day in GreaterToronto." CHAPTERONE Ecosystem