Members of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty say they are camping outside Mayor John Tory’s Annex-area condo Saturday night to demand he do more to help the city’s homeless population.
“We will demand that the city immediately open up the armouries to provide much needed respite to the homeless and add at least 1,000 beds to the shelter system to bring occupancy levels down to 90%, as mandated by city council,” a news release issued by the group Saturday said.
The City says it has added 600 shelter beds to the overall system since Dec. 2016, and that staff has advised against using armouries as shelters.
In February, Toronto City Council voted to cut 10 staff members from the municipal shelter system to save $1 million. At the time, Tory told council there was no evidence to suggest the cut would impact the quality of shelter operations.
OCAP says that a homeless person dies in Toronto roughly every 10 days.
“Homeless people and their advocates, front line workers, medical providers and religious leaders have all provided Mayor John Tory and the City with abundant and compelling evidence of the gravity of the situation. They know but choose not to act,” OCAP said.
