A local resident in a long-standing legal battle with the Mount Pleasant Group, which controls 10 cemeteries including midtown’s historic Mount Pleasant Cemetery, is questioning the decision of the group to close the gates to the public amidst concerns over COVID-19.

In a letter sent to Mayor John Tory and several city councillors dated April 2, CEO and president of Mount Pleasant Group Glenn McClary stated that the cemetery gates will be closed at each of the group’s cemetery properties effective immediately. McClary stated that Mount Pleasant Cemetery had seen increased public use since the COVID-19 crisis began and physical distancing measures were introduced.

“We have made every effort to inform the public who use our cemeteries as a place for passive recreational purposes that we all bear an obligation to adhere to the safe physical distancing directives when walking through the cemeteries,” wrote McClary. “Unfortunately, as you have witnessed elsewhere, not everyone is exercising those important cautions.”

In December of 2018, Margot Boyd and her group Friends of Toronto Public Cemeteries won a legal battle when the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that Mount Pleasant Group would be considered a public trust and not the private not-for-profit structure under which it currently operates. As such, according to Boyd, the appointments of the group’s board members had not been in compliance with an 1849 statute that stated the board should be publicly elected.

That judgment is currently being appealed.

Boyd said that the decision to close the gates at Mount Pleasant Cemetery resulted in an interruption of the City of Toronto’s Beltline Trail and goes against the Province of Ontario’s emergency declaration that shut down many outdoor recreational amenities.

She added that green spaces in parks, trails, ravines and conservation areas are to remain open for walk-through access.

“What we see is the Beltline Trail and the ravines fit into this category that, according to Ontario’s emergency declaration, are supposed to stay open. So that’s the order from the province,” said Boyd.

She also said that the city currently has two easements over the land, meaning the decision to close the gates would be up to the city.

Councillor Josh Matlow said he is saddened by Mount Pleasant Group’s decision.

“In normal times it [Mount Pleasant Cemetery] is a place where many of us in midtown try to escape the busy city, and during this public health emergency we were going there to get exercise, to be physically and mentally well,” said Matlow.

The midtown councillor said he has been in touch with McClary several times to discuss options for allowing public access to the cemetery but that Mount Pleasant Group has been resistant.

Matlow said he is aware of the questions concerning the legality of Mount Pleasant Group closing the gates and has brought the matter to the mayor’s office. The mayor currently has the powers of council due to a state of emergency declaration.

“It’s not Glen McClary’s decision to make,” said Boyd. “Glen McClary has no more right to do that than you or I do. And the mayor has every right to send … [a truck] out with bolt cutters to cut the locks on those gates.”

Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries did not respond to a request for comment on this article.