Boyle McCauley News

Since 1979 • April-May 2024 • Circulation 5000

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Protesting the LRT

This month, members of the BSCL board have been busy working on our opposition to the proposed LRT route through the community. The LRT engineers at the City’s Transportation department have recommended that the trains go down 102 Avenue and then sink into a tunnel right in front of the Chinese Elders’ Mansion and Chinatown Multicultural Centre.

The plan would put a vulnerable seniors’ community at risk. It would destroy the most viable community in the area. It will destroy or displace the beautiful Harbin Gate, built as a gift by the City of Harbin, China, our sister city. It would destroy a culturally vibrant area for the Chinese-Canadian community. Cultural heritage buildings on the south side of the avenue containing Chinese seniors’ centres, the family association, and a cultural heritage museum would have to be demolished. An area where Chinese festivals, parades, and events are held would be blocked. In general, we believe it’s just not a good plan—for so many reasons.

Plans proceeded without any input from the area. Printed material shows that consultation with business interests and associations took place in the centre of downtown, but not at the east end. So plans were quite far along for both the Downtown Connector and South-East Connector before the community had any idea what the plans were. Now, if the route is to change, Council must direct the Transportation department to do so.

Our position: the new line will be there for a long time. Once it’s there, change is ferociously expensive and well-nigh impossible. So let’s do it right the first time.

The Chinese community is a big part of Boyle Street community, historically and in the present. BSCL joins and supports the efforts to come up with an alternative route, as does Riverdale Community League, as Riverdale also will be affected by the plan. Representatives have met with city engineers and with council members, looking for a solution. There are many options, on an engineering level, that make just as much as or more sense than the option proposed—especially when the service to people is taken into account.

May 21 saw a protest march from the community, organized by the Chinese community and supported by Boyle Street and Riverdale Community Leagues, going from the site to City Hall. On May 25, the communities presented extensively at City Council’s Transportation and Public Works Committee. Now the issue will be up to Council to decide. We hope they’ll do the right thing and send the route back for change.

Our position: the new line will be there for a long time. Once it’s there, change is ferociously expensive and well-nigh impossible. So let’s do it right the first time. By the time you read this, a decision at TPW Committee or Council may have been made, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the issue is closed. This line is in the very early stages: there is still plenty of time to work out a better plan.

For more information, you can call the Boyle Street Community League at (780) 422-5857, or the Chinatown Benevolent Association.

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