Toronto mayoral contender Karen Stintz and several of her neighbours faced down a Mack truck on Saturday, blockading the vehicle loaded with trees they say were being illegally removed from a development site.

The Chatsworth Dr. showdown saw the Ward 16 councillor and others physically block the truck’s departure for several hours until police arrived on the scene.

“They were taking down trees and I went out and told them to stop what they were doing and they stopped for about an hour and then they came back,” Stintz said. “So the residents and I we blockaded the site so they couldn’t leave.”

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Charles Oliver, who lives across the road from the site, first noticed the trees were being removed just after 8 a.m.

“I heard a noise, went to the window and as I looked out I could see a big, old tree falling down,” he said. “It was being pushed over by the arm of a digger.”

Although the neighbours said they do not know who the site’s owner is and calls to the demolition company were not returned, Stintz said the site of the former Christian Science Church is now slated for a seven-storey condominium.

But both Oliver and Stintz said the men doing the removal did not have a permit to take the trees and that they had also been growing on a protected ravine site.

Several neighbours gathered on the sidewalk in front of the property to prevent the company from removing loads of tree branches.

“Part of our challenge at the city is that it’s hard for us to impose fines when we don’t have the evidence,” Stintz said. “Illegally cutting down a tree you’re subject to a $10,000 fine, but if we don’t have any evidence then it’s hard to convict them.”

At one point, Stintz said, the driver of the truck moved his massive vehicle towards the blockaders, but stopped short as they stood their ground.

“He moved toward me in the hopes that I would move,” she said. “But I didn’t move and so he ended up just backing up.”

The confrontation, which played out from about 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., ended when police arrived to record the particulars.

Because the tree removers were allegedly violating a city bylaw, they can only be charged by municipal officers, Stintz said.

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“But with the police there, they were able to take down the information and they were witness to the fact that the trees were removed,” she said.

Although a spokesperson for the city’s department of parks, forestry and recreation could not be reached, Oliver said an inspector eventually came out and told neighbours they would be speaking with the developer.

Although the lot was approved for development, Stintz said its mature trees were to be preserved.

“They took down the church, because there was a church there, but they weren’t supposed to remove the trees,” she said. “And the city can confirm that they did not have a permit so I will be pursuing charges against the owner.”

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