To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario,
WHEREAS The nearly 200-year-old Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries (MPGC) trust was created with public money through an Act of the legislature of Upper Canada and operated with public participation until the late 1980s; and,
WHEREAS Today, the MPGC trust amounts to a $3-billion public asset with 10 public cemeteries and 1,222 acres of urban forest; and,
WHEREAS It is not in Ontario’s best interest to continue to permit these precious cemeteries, which were founded by citizens on public land, to operate under an archaic 1800s charter which is devoid of modern corporate lines of accountability and transparency,
We the undersigned petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to direct the Government of Ontario to pass the Mount Pleasant Public Cemeteries Act to preserve the MPGC as a public corporation and charitable institution to ensure this valuable asset continues to have public oversight by the Province of Ontario.