Continue
← →

Accidental Parkland

Understanding Toronto’s Ravines & Waterways

Accidental Parkland is a documentary project on the changing nature and sustained value of Toronto’s urban waterways, both the waterfront and ravines.

Toronto’s most distinctive physical attribute is also one of its least appreciated: its 44,000-acre ravine system. That’s thirty times the size of Central Park in New York that is distributed throughout the region, interconnecting the entire Greater Toronto Area from the Oak Ridges Moraine to Lake Ontario. Many people don’t even realize that we all are linked by these indented spaces and the water that flows through them. Development over the last century and a half has engineered, and sometimes buried, the ravines and watercourses out of our sight and minds.

We want that to change.

As is often the case in Toronto and Canada most of us don’t realize just how unique and advanced our city is in a global context. When it comes to urban green space and its protection, Toronto is a bit of a marvel. We have, partially by accident, avoided the pitfalls and missteps that many other contemporary cities blundered into when it came to caring for local waterways and preserving natural spaces in the urban context. People come from around the world to see how the Toronto region preserves and manages its watersheds. With this documentary, we want even more people to know about this bounty and burden.

Toronto and the surrounding region also has some stunningly beautiful landscape and topography that we’ve filmed for this documentary. We hope viewing it will change the way people think about the nature of this place.

HOST
SHAWN MICALLEF

DIRECTOR
DAN BERMAN

PRODUCER
DAN BERMAN

EDITOR
AMANDA STRACHAN

STORY EDITOR
STEPHANIE MATTEIS

ORIGINAL MUSIC & SCORE BY
PEIRSON ROSS

ORIGINAL SONG OVER END TITLES
“NO MAN’S LAND” BY PEIRSON ROSS

MUSIC SUPERVISOR
JOHN ROWLEY

BUSINESS & LEGAL AFFAIRS
BRENDA BLAKE

RESEARCHER
MADELEINE COHEN

ADDITIONAL RESEARCHERS
JACQUELINE MACDONALD
MICHAEL WILCOX
CESAR GONZALEZ

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
SEANA IRVINE
ELAINE & BRUCE BERMAN

ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS
CARMELANNA RUGGIERO
George RUGGIERO
TOM HANNAM

ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS
AMANDA STRACHAN
CESAR GONZALEZ
VINCENT LUK
JUSTINE DECAESARE
HOLLY THOMSON

SECOND UNIT DIRECTORS
VINCENT LUK
HOLLY THOMSON
JUSTINE DECAESARE

SECOND UNIT CAMERA
VINCENT LUK
HOLLY THOMSON
JUSTINE DECAESARE

DRONE PHOTOGRAPHY
POESIS MEDIA SYNDICATE

DRONE CHIEF
RYAN RIZZO

DRONE PILOTS
LEE SMITH
DAVE LEWIS

FIELD SOUND RECORDING
LINDSAY BARDEN

Map & GIS consultant
Tom Weatherburn

TV1 Executive producer
Mark Sikstrom

TV1 Supervising PRODUCERS
JOHN BUFFONE
WILF DINNICK

TV1 PRODUCERS
PAUL GARDNER
IAN DAFFERN

TV1 CAMERA
KEVIN FABISH
RON DHALIWAL

TV1 GRAPHICS
CLINT LAVADO

tv1 post Production
Chris brooks
Jason Ward

TV1 unit manager
irene kassapidis

tv1 volunteer coordinator
Nikki Sandhu Patel

tv1 volunteer
lina namrud

MAPS & 3D FLY-THROUGH BY ESRI CANADA

PRESIDENT
ALEX MILLER

VICE PRESIDENT & GENERAL MANAGER
JOHN KITCHEN

DIRECTOR, EDUCATION & RESEARCH
BRENT HALL

DIRECTOR, MARKETING
MARIANNE KUPINA

TECHNOLOGY LEAD
MATT ENGLISH

DEVELOPER, GIS DESKTOP/WEB
MICHAEL LUUBERT

HIGHER EDUCATION DEVELOPER/ANALYST
JONATHAN VAN DUSEN

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST
ADAM BUCHOLZ

LEGAL COUNSEL
DOUGAL CLARK

ADDITIONAL MAPS & GRAPHICS by DEPT. OF GEOGRAPHY & ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES, RYERSON UNIVERSITY
DR. CLAUS RINNER
DR. CLAIRE OSWALD
MATTHEW TAM
NICHOLAS MCGLASHAN

Select video footage courtesy of
Friends of the Pan Am Path & Justin Peterson

Select video footage of salmon used courtesy of
jeff dickie

Satellite image used courtesy of
theNeptis Foundation & As the Crow Flies Cartography

ARCHIVAL IMAGES IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
"Water Chlorination Exhibit” City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 372, Subseries 32, Item 364
"General View of Excavation – Filtration Plant in Background" City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 372, Subseries 77, Item 15
"84” Conduit – Thor Iron Works” City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 372, Subseries 72, Item 332
"R.C. Harris Filtration Plant, Looking West at High-Lift Pumps" City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 220, Series 160, File 128 "Boys & Girls - miscellaneous” City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 372, Subseries 32, Item 704
“Mastodon hunt” ROM Collection
"An Iroquoian village during the pre-contact period” Courtesy of Parks Canada and B. Duchesne, © Parks Canada/B. Duchesne
“Algonquin village” ROM collection
Arthur Cox, "York, 1803" (1876) Courtesy of Toronto Public Library, Special Collections, War of 1812 Exhibit
"Plan of Toronto Harbour with the Proposed town and part of the settlement" (1850-1851) Courtesy of University of Toronto, Maps Collection, Inventory of Scanned Maps, NMC4488
D.C. Grose, "Taylor Brothers, paper mill, Don R., e. side, around Pottery Rd. (a little n.e. of later Taylor Brothers paper mill)" (c. 1860s) Courtesy of Toronto Public Library, Virtual Reference Library
"Aerial view of Toronto waterfront" City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 920
"View looking west from the north-west corner of the Cobban Building" City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1580, Item 18
"Harbour from top of Union Station" City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1548, Series 393, Item 15945
"Sunnyside – train with smoke" City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1548, Series 393, Item 12971
Toronto harbour aerial photograph Archives of Ontario, Merrilees Collection, F1125, A-6, F1125-6-0-20-3
"Don Valley Flood, north of Bloor Viaduct” City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 372, Subseries 41, Item 113
"The Toronto Carrying Place, 1619-1793" Folding Map by C.W. Jefferys in Percy James Robinson, Toronto During the French Regime (Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1933)
Photo of spear point from 10,000 Yrs ago, ROM collection
Photo of mastodon bones at ROM, ROM collection
Photo of humber excavation, no date, reproduced with the permission of ASI Inc.
"Map of the Township of York in the County of York Upper Canada, 1851” City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 79, Series 443, File 40
Charles A. Williams, "Old Mill Road, looking w. to bridge across Humber River betw. Catherine St. & Old Mill Road, Toronto, Ont.” (c. 1919) Courtesy of Toronto Public Library, Virtual Reference Library
Photo of don valley brickworks, uncredited
James Victor Salmon, "Don Valley Brick Works, Bayview Ave., w. side, s. of Chorley Park in Don Valley; looking s. from Chorley Park" (1952) Courtesy of Toronto Public Library, Virtual Reference Library
"Toronto skyline from Mugg’s Island” City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 243B
"Stagnant pond between Ossington and Concord north of Dewson" City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 372, Subseries 100, Item 171
"Garbage in water at the foot of Yonge Street” City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1244, Item 641
Aerial Photographs of the Metropolitan Toronto Area [Zoomed in image] City of Toronto Archives, Series 12, File 1947, Item 18D
James Victor Salmon, "Don Valley Brick Works, Bayview Ave., w. side, s. of Chorley Park in Don Valley; looking w. from Broadview & Mortimer Ayes. [Aves.]" (1955) Courtesy of Toronto Public Library, Virtual Reference Library

VERY SPECIAL THANKS
EVERGREEN
TORONTO & REGION CONSERVATION AUTHORITY (TRCA)
Rick Sikorski
Dan Clayton
ESRI CANADA
ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM
URBAN POST
PAUL BARKIN

SPECIAL THANKS
SABINA ALI
CHARLES BIRNBAUM
JENNIFER BONNELL
GEOFF CAPE
NORMAN DEFRAEYE
ALEX DOW
JANE FAIRBURN
ADELE FREEMAN
JAMES GEN MEER
CHRIS GLASIEK
TIM GRAY
STEVE HEUCHERT
GILLIAN HUTCHINSON
TODD IRVINE
JON JOHNSON
JENNIFER KEESMAAT
ROGER KEIL
KAREN KUN
AMY LAVENDER-HARRIS
ARLEN LEEMING
NINA-MARIE LISTER
JOHN LORINC
PAT MACAULAY
MADELEINE MACDOWELL
MARK MATTSON
BURKHARD MAUSBERG
FARAH MAWANI
VICTORIA MCGRATH
ANNE MICHAELS
HELEN MILLS
LYNN PATTERSON
BLAINE PEARSON
DENISE PINTO
LIAT PODOLSKY
BRENT RAYMOND
WAYNE REEVES
FERRUCCIO SARDELLA
CHANDRA SHARMA
JAMISON STEVE
MEGAN TORZA
JIMMY VINCENT
ASHLEY WALLIS
ROB WALLIS
ANTHONY WESTENBERG
RICHARD WHITE
RON WILLIAMSON
JOHN WILSON
THOMAS WOLTZ
CAROLYN WOODLAND

THANKS TO
FRIENDS OF THE PAN AM PATH
FRIENDS OF THE GREENBELT FOUNDATION
CITY OF TORONTO ARCHIVES
Neptis Foundation & As the Crow Flies Cartography
TORONTO METRO REFERENCE LIBRARY
ARCHIVES OF ONTARIO
University of Toronto, Maps Collection

BIG LOVE TO OUR INDIEGOGO SUPPORTERS, ESPECIALLY
ELAINE & BRUCE BERMAN
SEANA IRVINE

TOM HANNAM
CARMELANNA & GEORGE RUGGIERO

CAROL MURRAY

JORDAN BAECHLER
PAMELA BELL
IAIN BROOKS
MITCH & TEDA CLARKE
KIM CURRAN
JENNIFER KOWALSKI
CHRIS MITCHELE & JENNIFER VOLK
DEB PERNA
ELIN RAYMOND
TINA TAO

Donald AINSLIE
Melodie BARNETT & STEVEN WARDLE
Robin BUXTON POTTS
Tom CHITTY
David COULSON
Tyler FLEMING
John GALWAY
Paul GILBERT
Rishi MAHARAJ
Claire NOWLAN
Devon OSTROM
Julian PADFIELD
Raynor POWELL
Kevin SPEICHER
Daniela STRANSCAK & FERNANADO ANTON
Patrick TARR
Phil TER-MIKAELIAN
Andre VALLILLEE
Craig WHITE
Patricia WOOD