Metrolinx sent crews to Moss Park and Osgoode Hall on Saturday morning with orders to cut down dozens of trees to make way for future Ontario Line subway stations, leaving advocates and community groups scrambling to stop them.

While the work at Osgoode Hall was put on hold thanks to an interim injunction granted by an Ontario judge, the work at Moss Park went ahead, and 61 trees were brought down over the course of the weekend.

Now some community members are expressing frustration with the radically different outcome in Moss Park and wondering whether the neighbourhood is being treated differently by Metrolinx.

“For some community members, it's absolute devastation,” said Crystal Melin Basi, Director of Community Engagement for Building Roots, the Moss Park Coalition.

“They've been worried for weeks and months, knowing that the trees are being cut down, but not when. I think it was unfair that they weren't given a date, and so it came to them by surprise. So there's some shock there and some despair that they weren't able to rally people to show their solidarity as it was happening.”

A number of Moss Park community members held a funeral for the fallen trees on Sunday, as work to remove them continued in the background.

Attendees brought flowers and lit candles for the ceremony as an obituary was read through a megaphone.

Melin Basi says people in the area have historically relied on the trees in Moss Park, particularly in the summer.

“For many community members, Moss Park is their life. This is their space to congregate. This is the only green space that there is open, public access to. It was a gathering ground for a lot of people, especially having such a high population density,” she said.

“It was really important to have those kind of green spaces and I can tell you that in the summertime when it gets really hot, a lot of people use trees as their natural cooling stations. Not everyone has access to AC, not everyone has access to shelter, so that was a very important aspect of the park was that there was a shade component.”

Over the weekend, a few high-profile Toronto politicians also spoke out against Metrolinx’s decision to axe the trees.

“Shame on Metrolinx for taking advantage of some of the coldest weather we have experienced this winter as an opportunity to clear cut trees while many residents are forced to stay indoors to keep warm,” said Kristyn Wong-Tam, NDP MPP for Toronto Centre, on her website.

Josh Matlow, city councillor for Ward 12, Toronto St. Paul’s, was at Osgoode Hall on Saturday, attempting to convince Metrolinx to stop the clear cutting there and at Moss Park. He accused Metrolinx of showing “no respect for due process.”

In an emailed statement to CP24, Metrolinx said they only remove trees that are “absolutely necessary,” and that they will plant three or more trees for every tree removed for the entire Ontario Line project.

“Our goal is to minimize impacts to communities as we build these critical infrastructure projects. Over the past two years, Metrolinx has been actively engaging with Moss Park and Osgoode Hall area residents, businesses, community groups and elected officials,” the statement reads.

“After years of unnecessary delays, Ontarians deserve to have a transit system that works for them – and we can't afford to wait any longer.”

Melin Basi says Metrolinx’s consultations with community members mostly involved the transit agency presenting their plans without any intention of changing them based on public feedback.

“The consultations come in, but they're not consultations, they’re dictations,” Melin Basi said.

“So they're not asking for feedback, they're telling them what they're going to do, and then hear grievances and don't react to those grievances. They do that after the fact.”

Melin Basi also said that the trees at Osgoode Hall benefited from local organizations with influence, like the Law Society, while Moss Park was left to fend for iself.

“Moss Park really doesn't have that sort of law society there, and I feel as though Metrolinx, probably for PR issues, is trying to be somewhat more delicate with the Osgoode situation. I think that's perhaps why it happened on the same day,” she said.

Melin Basi added that many residents of Moss Park no longer trust Metrolinx to listen to them or take their concerns seriously, and that trust will not be easily rebuilt.

“There's very little trust, I find, and I'm not just speaking for Moss Park,” she said

“It seems to me that most communities affected by Metrolinx have very little trust that they'll follow through and do a good job with what they say they're promising the community,” she said.

Metrolinx’s ongoing construction of the Ontario Line subway extension is expected to intensify in the coming months.

The 15-stop transit line is scheduled to be completed in 2031.