{"id":711,"date":"2017-01-08T07:16:07","date_gmt":"2017-01-08T07:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/?p=711"},"modified":"2017-01-08T07:16:07","modified_gmt":"2017-01-08T07:16:07","slug":"north-york-resident-wins-right-to-move-city-owned-tree-based-on-religious-belief-another-shameful-retreat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/?p=711","title":{"rendered":"North York resident wins right to move city-owned tree based on religious belief: Another shameful retreat"},"content":{"rendered":"
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North York resident wins right to move city-owned tree based on religious belief<\/span><\/h1>\n
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Vastu, an ancient Indian system of architecture involving home design, holds that trees shouldn\u2019t be planted directly in front of a home\u2019s main entrance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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North York resident Sanjeev Joshi says the 17.5-centimetre diameter maple tree in front of his house violates the principles of vastu.\u00a0\u00a0(SAMMY HUDES\/TORONTO STAR \/ <\/span>SAMMY HUDES\/TORONTO STAR<\/span>)\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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By <\/span>SAMMY HUDES<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>Staff Reporter<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Sat., Jan. 7, 2017<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Toronto\u2019s tree canopy may carry important economic and environmental benefits, but city council is willing to extend a maple branch when it comes to moving trees to accommodate religious beliefs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a very sad struggle for my family,\u201d North York resident Sanjeev Joshi told the Star, following a more than yearlong fight to get approval to move a city-owned tree on his front lawn to another part of the property at his own expense.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut my experience has brought forth the entire true glory and majesty of multicultural Canada. My story illustrates how our Canada today is probably the last bastion of true cultural diversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

In November, following a lengthy debate, council voted 19-7 to allow Joshi to move the tree.<\/p>\n

The case began in April 2015, when he requested that the city remove the 17.5-centimetre-diameter Freeman maple tree entirely.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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According to a report by the city\u2019s forestry department, Joshi requested the tree\u2019s removal to prevent future damage to his driveway by the tree\u2019s roots and to mitigate \u201cthe negative effects on the tree\u2019s esthetics due to the future canopy pruning to accommodate overhead wires.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the city\u2019s forestry department denied his request, he appealed the decision, requesting religious accommodation under the Ontario Human Rights Code, according to the city report.<\/p>\n

In consultation with the city\u2019s Human Rights Office, it was determined Joshi had not established in good faith that his request warranted religious accommodation by the city.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Yet Joshi continued to argue that the position of the tree in front of the main door of his home violated his belief in vastu, which he defines as \u201cthe architectural science of harnessing nature\u2019s energy for well-being of family.\u201d Joshi, who\u2019s retired, says he cited his religious belief from the beginning.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a really reasonable request. He\u2019s not somebody who doesn\u2019t like trees,\u201d said Councillor John Filion, who represents the area where the property is located.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just so absurd. It was such a ridiculous discussion that the guy does have religious reasons for needing to move the tree at his own expense a couple of feet to one side on his lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vastu<\/a>, an ancient Hindu system of architecture involving home design, holds that trees shouldn\u2019t be planted directly in front of a home\u2019s main entrance in order to harness the flow of good energy into the house.<\/p>\n

Councillor Gord Perks, who voted against the motion, said he trusted city staff\u2019s determination that Joshi\u2019s request didn\u2019t meet the standards for religious accommodation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone saying that there should be a religious exemption is ignoring the people who test our policy against human rights and religious needs,\u201d said Perks, adding that the city receives tree removal applications \u201call the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis particular instance was, in my view, nothing more than that,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a fairness argument here. If we have a series of tests that every Torontonian can rely on being applied equally, why does this guy get an exemption and the next person who makes an application not?\u201d<\/p>\n

There are about 600,000 trees on city streets in Toronto, including those on city-owned land between roadways and private property. The city, which has a goal of increasing its tree canopy to 40 per cent, maintains these trees to help grow Toronto\u2019s urban forest, due to the ecological, recreational and health benefits of trees.<\/p>\n

The motion at council, moved by Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker, includes a two-year guarantee for the health of the tree in question. If the tree dies following the transplant, Joshi would be required to replace it.<\/p>\n

Alex McLeish, general manager of Kontiki Landscaping, said transplants of the type and size of tree in question have a very high success rate, adding it would cost about $1,000 to move the tree.<\/p>\n

\u201cA (17.5-centimetre), we wouldn\u2019t even break a sweat,\u201d McLeish said. \u201cYou would be in the high 90s in percentage of living. If you moved 100, I doubt you\u2019d lose one.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Perks said there was \u201cno sense in taking a risk,\u201d no matter how small.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing that you can do that best meets the city\u2019s policy goals of having a healthy urban forest, reducing our costs and improving air quality in the city of Toronto is to leave trees where they are when they\u2019re healthy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Filion said his vote in favour of the transplant was the first time he had gone against a city forestry staff report, which had originally recommended against removing it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the city is going out planting trees, which I\u2019m all in favour of, maybe don\u2019t stick it in the middle of a lot, because there are people with religious beliefs about the tree being right in front of their door,\u201d said Filion. \u201cJust put it off a bit to the side because people\u2019s front doors are pretty much always in the middle of a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Filion said he opposes requests to move trees for convenience and said any suggestion that this vote set a precedent for such requests to be approved was an \u201cabsurd characterization.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole discussion was absurd,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was like a Monty Python skit, it was so absurd. Obviously it only sets a precedent for somebody wanting to do the exact same thing. That\u2019s not a precedent I would be concerned about.\u201d<\/p>\n

__________________________<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/\u2026\/north-york-resident-wins-right-to\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n

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If the tree so offended him, why did he buy that house? Also, if it was new construction, he could have had the front door built in a different position..<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Another shameful accommodation of the invaders. Cultural compatibility should be an absolute requirement, if we are to accept any immigration at all. — Paul Fromm<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

North York resident wins right to move city-owned tree based on religious belief Vastu, an ancient Indian system of architecture involving home design, holds that trees shouldn\u2019t be planted directly in front of a home\u2019s main entrance. North York resident Sanjeev Joshi says the 17.5-centimetre diameter maple tree in front of his house violates the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[533,534],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=711"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":712,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711\/revisions\/712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}