Indigenous-led coalition says it will stop construction to keep Eglinton Crosstown West Extension underground
CBC
An Indigenous-led coalition is resurfacing calls to bury a 1.5 kilometre stretch of the long-anticipated Eglinton Crosstown West Extension (ECWE) to protect local green space.
The ENAGB Indigenous Youth Agency, along with community and park associations, will stop construction with a blockade that could last "days or months" if demands aren't met, a press release from the coalition reads.
"This is serious. And I personally don't want to start blockades, but if we have to then we might have to," said executive director of the ENAGB Indigenous Youth Agency Cynthia Bell.
"Today, we want to just prove to Metrolinx that we do have an impact on their construction if they don't come to the table."
The ECWE, an extension by Metrolinx to bring the Eglinton Crosstown LRT another 9.2 kilometres farther west, is billed as a continuous rapid transit line from the east end of Toronto into Mississauga, projected to give 37,000 daily rides.
The groups raised alarm at the potential impact to nearby youth programs and the removal of "thousands" of trees to make way for the elevated track between Scarlett Road and Jane Street as soon as this spring, the release reads.
It's the latest movement aimed at convincing the transit agency to backtrack on its plan to tunnel under the land instead of through it. This past summer, residents implored Metrolinx to rethink the elevated track due to its impact on park use and vulnerable species in the area.
The ENAGB Indigenous Youth Agency, also known as Eshkiniigjik Naandwechigegamig, Aabiish Gaa Binjibaaying, meaning "A Place for Healing Our Youth, Where Did We Come From?" says it provides cultural, employment and other programs to Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in Toronto.
"We're gonna fight, you know, for what we feel what's right," said Kiyana Johnston-Palmer, a youth with ENAGB Indigenous Youth Agency .
"This is what we believe in — it should go underground."
A letter dated Wednesday to the ENAGB Indigenous Youth Agency from Metrolinx Chair Donald Wright says the ECWE will "not intrude onto the ENAGB land parcel," and that Metrolinx is committed to working with the agency to "mitigate other construction impacts."
But Bell says that's not enough.
"We're not sellouts," said Bell.
"We still have to protect our relatives — the plants, the animals, the trees, the river, the environment."
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