Ed Troscianczuk displays what's left
of a mighty maple chopped down on property he and his wife rent in Mississauga.
The couple tried in vain to save
more than 50 trees on the lot and are now urging the city to pass a tree
bylaw.
Kallis said one of the trees felled was the largest maple in Mississauga. ``The largest in North America was 168 inches (in diameter) and the largest in Canada was 164 inches,'' she said. ``This tree was 14 inches off the North American record.''
Within legal rights
Troscianczuk, a self-employed computer programmer, said: ``We brought the police here . . . They stopped them from cutting anything down until we determined if they had any legal right to do what they were doing.'' It turned out Troscianczuk's landlord was doing nothing illegal when he hired experts to remove the trees from the property.
Need Bylaw
Mississauga Councillor Carmen Corbassen said it's upsetting to see large trees removed, but the city has no authority to prevent owners from cutting them down. Corbasson said the city is expecting a report from staff on a possible tree bylaw similar to one adopted by Toronto, but no decisions will be made without public input. ``I've been after it for three years and council is most anxious to look at some kind of bylaw,'' she said.
Public outcry
Kallis is hoping the removal of the trees will cause a public outcry and encourage city politicians to adopt a bylaw. Troscianczuk and Kallis did manage to save the trees for a day, but most have now been cut down. ``I found out I couldn't do anything,'' Troscianczuk said. ``The landlord is the owner and he can do anything he wants.''
It is unclear whether the landlord has plans to develop the property.