New Community Group Aims to Clean Up Toronto Bay

TORONTO: March 9, 1997 A group of concerned citizens, community leaders and environmental activists say they want to clean up Toronto Bay.

To meet their goal the community group has formed the Toronto Bay Initiative, a movement designed to clean up the water and restore nature to the shores of Toronto Bay. The initiative was officially launched today at a special public forum at the Radisson Hotel on the Toronto waterfront.

The bay includes the inner harbour as well as the waters associated with the Toronto Islands. Toronto Bay is the well known home of Toronto's marine shipping sector, but is also the focus of a significant number of manufacturing, recreation and transportation industries.

But, Toronto Bay is also an important part of the ecosystem of the Toronto region. The citizens of the Toronto Bay initiative know that the bay has been placed under enormous environmental stress in recent years due mainly to contamination from storm sewer overflow. These stresses affect fish and wildlife habitat in the bay, and also limit the bay's accessibility for human uses.

Toronto Mayor Barbara Hall addressed the hundreds of people who attended the inaugural Toronto Bay Forum. "I am really excited about the Toronto Bay initiative. The harbour is polluted and inaccessible. But great things happen when citizens work together to improve their city," she said. "Today is the beginning of a new understanding and vision of the harbour, that will inform the solutions needed to bring the Bay back to life."

The Toronto Bay initiative is a project of the Waterfront Regeneration Trust, an Ontario government agency created in 1992 to regenerate the environment, economy and community of the Lake Ontario waterfront.

"Around the world, cities are rediscovering the importance of a healthy waterfront. Toronto is at the forefront," said David Crombie, chair of the Waterfront Regeneration Trust. "The Toronto Bay project is a movement that connects people with nature in a highly urbanized place. This is a model for a new way of actively working towards a clean, green, livable city."

Over the coming months the Toronto Bay initiative will develop a series of community projects to help meet the goal of cleaning up the bay. These projects will be undertaken by volunteers, and will include tree planting, assistance with water quality monitoring, and staffing displays at public events.

For additional information, contact:

Leslie Woo
Waterfront Regeneration Trust
Tel: (416) 943-8080 Fax: (416) 943-8068
email: info@wrtrust.com

Toronto Bay Initiative
c/o Waterfront Regeneration Trust
207 Queen's Quay West, Suite 580
Toronto, Ontario M5J 1A7

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