'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
Average hourly wage in Canada now $34.95: StatCan
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
Magnitude 4.2 earthquake reported off Vancouver Island's west coast
A 4.2-magnitude earthquake was recorded west of Vancouver Island early Friday morning.
This iconic Canadian song is turning 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
Federal government bans watercraft from Manitoba lake popular with tourists
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
Her SUV was stolen in Montreal. A Good Samaritan on Facebook helped her get it back
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Toronto police called to Drake's Bridle Path mansion for another alleged intruder on Thursday
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.