The BIG Metrolinx Payoff Tactic in Thorncliffe Park
When SaveTPARK started its campaign, we reached out to businesses and religious institutions, only to find that Metrolinx had spoken to them already. The business owners and the Mosque representatives could no longer speak or join our campaign because of confidential agreements and many promises from Metrolinx.
Metrolinx chose not to speak with the residents of Thorncliffe Park but instead spoke to the major businesses and the Mosque – this is a common tactic. Typically, marginalized communities are not organized to deal with an issue like a train yard, so community members rely on business leaders and religious institutions for guidance. However, businesses and religious institutions are often discretely promised and offered lots of money to relocate. This silences them. This tactic is common in cases of environmental racism. In every instance where the unsavoury elements of large infrastructure projects are dumped in a marginalized community, this tactic is the same. When this happens, only a few people benefit and the 30,000 plus residents will be left with a train yard they didn’t ask for or approve of.
SaveTPARK is a grassroots movement with a community first focus to protect the Thorncliffe Park from Metrolinx’s exploitation. The group is aware of the manipulative tactics used by organizations like Metrolinx and cannot be paid off. Our objective is to provide community residents with information and resources to challenge Metrolinx.
Here’s how YOU can help out today:
Email the Minister of Transportation Caroline Mulroney (minister.mto@ontario.ca) and Minister of Infrastructure Kinga Surma (kinga.surmaco@pc.ola.org) and state the following:
Stop the secret deals designed to silence the businesses and the Mosque in communities like Thorncliffe Park. Metrolinx needs to hit the reset button on the location of a train yard in Thorncliffe Park. The wilful discrimination against the Thorncliffe Park community is not acceptable and needs to be stopped.
To contact SaveTPARK:
Email: notrainyard@savetpark.ca or Phone: 1-855-657-2750