About 150 people showed up Wednesday night for the first public meeting of #BlockSidewalk, a citizens’ group which opposes a 12-acre development on Toronto’s waterfront by Sidewalk Labs.

Group co-leader Melissa Goldstein called the turnout at the Ralph Thornton Community Centre an “encouraging sign.”

“I am very happy with the turnout. We didn’t know how many people we could expect. This is very exciting and I think it’s only going to get bigger from here,” Goldstein said.

Councillor Paula Fletcher attended the meeting even though the proposed Quayside development at Parliament St. and Lake Shore Blvd. isn’t in her ward because of recent signals that Sidewalk Labs, a sister company to Google, wants to dramatically expand the scale of the project into the adjacent Port Lands, as first reported by The Star in February.

“Sidewalk Labs has very clearly and publicly stated that they don’t think they can manage their 12 acres without leveraging 350 acres in the Port Lands. I think the public thought the original deal is, ‘You’ve got 12 acres to show us what a “smart city” would look like,’” Fletcher said.

“I think a lot of people feel a little cheated because that was never part of the plan, to take on the Port Lands rather than just the 12 acres. It’s very strange how this has all rolled out. I would have to say this is not how we do things in Toronto,” Fletcher said, noting development plans in the Port Lands, including a 90-acre park and a 25-acre housing project, are already well underway.

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Goldstein also hailed a recent decision by Waterfront Toronto, the tri-level government agency that oversees development of the city’s waterfront, to take over the public consultation process once Sidewalk Toronto releases its master innovation and development plan. That’s expected within weeks, and Waterfront Toronto is promising to release the full document publicly within seven days of receiving it.

“Waterfront Toronto is taking control of (public consultations) and it is going to be a process where people will be speaking to the people that have the authority to make decisions on the public’s behalf,” Goldstein said.

Group co-leader Bianca Wylie said Sidewalk Toronto’s claims of having consulted 20,000 people so far is practically meaningless.

“Many people thought when they went to Sidewalk Toronto meetings that they were talking to Waterfront people,” Wylie said.

Sidewalk Labs won a request for proposals issued by Waterfront Toronto in 2017, and followed up with a plan development agreement in July 2018 that would transform the Quayside land into a high-tech, sensor-laden community. But in February, the Star revealed the company wants to go well outside the original plan to include as much as 350 acres in the 600-acre Port Lands area.

Wylie said that public concerns must take precedent over the desires of a large international company.

“We should be doing (development) on our timeline, not because we’re rushing because Google is here and they want to do something in Toronto. That’s the wrong reason,” Wylie told the audience.

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Wylie also noted that members of the public have major concerns about how data would be collected by Sidewalk Labs as part of its plan for a futuristic community, saying there’s a “policy vacuum” and a lack of legislation to protect personal privacy.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Toronto resident Lester Brown recently filed an application with the Superior Court of Justice to block the existing agreements between Waterfront Toronto and Sidewalk Labs, citing privacy issues.

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