'Criminalization of homelessness': Churchyard encampment remains after City eviction deadline passes
The 14-day notice to vacate an encampment outside a downtown Toronto church has passed — but instead of people packing up and leaving, a defiant demonstration was held on Thursday, organized by the reverend of the church.
“No one should have to sleep in a tent in a churchyard, we need good, safe decent indoor accommodations,” Reverend Maggie Helwig of Saint Stephen-in-the-Fields Church told CTV News Toronto Thursday.
“When ‘dwelling in street’ is considered an offence for people who have nowhere else to dwell, I think there couldn’t be a clearer statement of the criminalization of homelessness,” Helwig said.
The trespass notice issued to the encampment two weeks ago by the City suggested the encampment was violating bylaws, committing infractions for dwelling in the street and obstruction.
It instructed the occupants of the encampment to vacate in 14 days. After that, the city warned they would enforce the notice by removing the tents.
The churchyard is partially a city right-of-way.
“We know we have a huge housing crisis in the city and we know the Novotel project is closing, so there are more people on the streets,” Bishop Andrew Asbil of the Anglican Diocese of Toronto told CTV News Toronto. “We have a duty to be present, to provide the care because they are here.
Some neighbours, however, say the encampment has caused issues.
Davida Walker runs Westside Montessori school two doors down from the church. She says while she wants to support people living in encampments to find permanent homes, there is also a question of safety.
“We have people defecating in our parking lot, in front of our school—needles, crack pipes, meth pipes, people fighting in different areas around the school,” she said, adding it can be hard to find a balance between respecting the space of people who don’t have permanent housing while also advocating for the safety of the children in her care.
Some occupants of the encampment dispute that claim, saying it’s not the residents leaving the mess.
When CTV News Toronto first visited the encampment in October, a man who identified himself as Danny said he routinely cleans the outskirts of the encampment of debris and says most of it is left nearby by people who don’t live in the encampment.
Toronto Mayor John Tory says there are no immediate plans to enforce the trespass notice, but he remains adamant that encampments are unsafe and illegal.
“What we’re trying to do is make sure we’re following the law,” he said on Friday, “but at the same time, continue our work – hundreds of visits will continue to happen.”
“I hope we can persuade the people that are there to seek safe indoor housing.”
Some of the encampment residents, however, say they feel unsafe in shelters, adding the respite services they are offered are only night to night—leaving them little option but to hunker down where they are, despite a precarious future.
In 2021, the City of Toronto spent at least $1.5 million clearing homeless encampments.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
What weather experts say to expect this summer in Canada
Get ready to feel the heat, Canada. Weather experts are predicting more sunshine and warmer temperatures for the summer.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.
Israel sends tanks into Rafah on raids amid Gaza-wide offensive
Israeli tanks mounted raids across Rafah in defiance of the World Court for a second day on Wednesday, after Washington said the assault did not amount to a major ground operation in the southern Gazan city that U.S. officials have warned Israel to avoid.
Five more Ontario school boards join lawsuit against social media platforms
Five additional Ontario school boards and two independent private schools have joined a lawsuit against the owners of multiple social media platforms, including Snapchat, TikTok, and Facebook.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
In bizarre provocation, North Korea flies trash, manure balloons over the South
North Korea flew hundreds of balloons carrying trash and manure toward South Korea in one of its most bizarre provocations against its rival in years, prompting the South’s military to mobilize chemical and explosive response teams to recover objects and debris in different parts of the country.
Introducing peanut butter during infancy can help protect against a peanut allergy later on, new study finds
New evidence suggests that feeding children smooth peanut butter during infancy and early childhood can help reduce their risk of developing a peanut allergy even years later.
'It was hell': Israeli mother held hostage with her children describes 51 days in captivity
Hagar Brodutch, her three children and four-year-old neighbour were kidnapped by Hamas-led militants from their home in Kfar Aza, Israel on Oct. 7 and held for 51 days. They were released in November, but Brodutch says her thoughts are never far from those still being held in Gaza.