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NEWS
Margot Boyd at Mount Pleasant Cemetery
| JANUARY 2025
Historic cemetery's public status disputed
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Mount Pleasant Cemetery, a historic fixture in Toronto since 1826, is at the centre of a debate about its future. The Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries, which manages the site and others across the Greater Toronto Area, is pursuing legislative changes that would clarify its objectives and governance structure — a move critics say would strip it of its public trust status. “Mount Pleasant Cemetery was created for everyone,” said Margot Boyd, an advocate with ties to the cemetery’s origins. Her great-great-great-grandfather was the attorney general who set up the cemetery as a statutory trust nearly two centuries ago. “I cannot just let this trust that he set up for rich and poor alike go. It’s wrong.” Boyd has been at the forefront of efforts to stop Pr55, a provincial private members’ bill that would allow the Mount Pleasant Group to dissolve its public trust obligations. “This private members’ bill would divest an almost $4 billion asset without a penny of remuneration,” she said. “16 million people in Ontario lose, and eight people on the board benefit.” A public trust is a system where property, like land or money, is managed for the benefit of the community instead of
private individuals. For Mount Pleasant, this means the cemeteries are owned by the people of Ontario and are meant to serve the public’s needs. The Mount Pleasant Group was set up as a public trust, paid for by citizens and overseen by the provincial government to ensure the cemeteries were used for the common good. “The government is responsible for our public trust,” Boyd said. “There is absolutely nothing private about this organization whatsoever.” Critics argue that Bill Pr55 could lead to reduced public access to these spaces. Boyd highlighted the potential consequences of privatization, drawing comparisons to locked cemeteries elsewhere in the city. “We take for granted that we have over 1,200 acres of urban forest in the GTA,” said Boyd. “If Pr55 goes through, how long will it be a park?” For now, Pr55 has been delayed. “We look forward to discussing our Private Bill at the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs when the committee meets on it again,” said Mount Pleasant Group, in a statement. — Jemicah Colleen Marasigan