Residents have had enough with saying goodbye to long-time friends
Jan 29, 2008 - 09:46 AM
By Kristen Calis
PICKERING -- Protestors, politicians and concerned residents marched along the streets of Brougham on Monday, carrying a casket not to mourn a death, but the loss of hopes and dreams of a longtime resident.
It was the day Mike Puterbough, who moved into his Brougham home in 1974, was evicted. The 59-year-old has been fighting Transport Canada in a court battle for the past three years, and said he was finally told to go because his home wasn’t worth fixing.
“I’ve been very angry but today I just feel complete sadness,” Mr. Puterbough said.
The federal government expropriated 7,500 hectares of farmland in 1972, but has still given no final word on whether an airport will be built or not on the land. In the meantime, the community has been slowly diminishing, and residents in north Pickering have been fighting evictions and demolitions of homes.
The local anti-airport group Land Over Landings began as People or Plains, of which Michael Robertson was a founding member. He spoke of his disgust at the protest.
“We’re here witnessing what, for a normal landlord, was an illegal act,” he said to approximately 50 supporters. “A winter eviction, after 33 years, and with a heart condition, Mike is literally put out in the cold. This is clearly over the edge of common decency, if not the law.”
Mr. Robertson added the fight isn’t over.
Mr. Puterbough will move in with family in Uxbridge for the time being, but isn’t sure where he’ll go after that.
With files from Torstar News Service
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