'Unacceptable conditions:' Protesters rally for more shelter supports ahead of Toronto council meeting
'Unacceptable conditions:' Protesters rally for more shelter supports ahead of Toronto council meeting
The high noon sun bounced off City Hall’s two towers, but the ground below was still iced over and cold. Nonetheless, dozens of Torontonians laid down on the frozen square Monday, dramatizing sleeping on the street.
“Life is really, really fragile and really worth protecting, and that’s at the bare minimum what the city should be doing to ensure that people don’t actually have to sleep on the pavement,” Susan Bender, manager of the Toronto Drop-In Network, told CTV News Toronto.
The protesters rallying outside the doors of Toronto City Hall called on council to increase shelter spaces and other social supports, ahead of a series of council votes that would determine the fate of certain temporary shelters and warming centres, as well as operating spending.
“We see people sleeping outside and in stairwells, trying to stay in coffee shops and ride the TTC all night,” one protester said. “It’s really unacceptable conditions.”
“I’ve lost a lot of friends, just from being homeless, friends that were frozen to death, that passed out in the cold and then were found deceased,” Kat Clouse, who used to be homeless, told CTV News Toronto.
Council will also consider Tuesday a call for the declaration of homelessness as a public health crisis in Toronto.
“The reality is that people who are unhoused might be riding the train to stay warm because there are no options for people to go,” shouted one protester.
“Mayor Tory’s primary concern in winter months, and all year, is to make sure the City of Toronto is continuing to support our most vulnerable residents,” Mayor John Tory’s office told CTV News Toronto in a statement, adding that there are 9,000 shelter beds in the city’s 2023 budget, up from 6,000 pre-pandemic.
But a December city staff report indicated that despite this increase, the shelter system is at full capacity most nights.
“I just don’t want to see it again,” Clouse said of the deaths related to the extreme cold. “It’s really got to stop.”
The parents of young Ontario hockey player Ben Teague have been searching for answers since he died while at a team retreat in 2019. The mystery about what happened and the code of silence in hockey culture is explored in CTV W5's 'What Happened to Ben,' on CTVNews.ca and W5's official YouTube channel.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's calls for protests ahead of his anticipated indictment in New York have generated mostly muted reactions from supporters, with even some of his most ardent loyalists dismissing the idea as a waste of time or a law enforcement trap.
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Officials are still looking for victims after a fire ripped through a building in Old Montreal last week, killing at least one person. At a press conference Monday morning, spokespersons for the Montreal police and Montreal fire department said six people are still missing. They come from various locations in Quebec, Ontario and the U.S.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is due to meet with Vladimir Putin in a political boost for the isolated Russian president after the International Criminal Court charged him with war crimes in Ukraine.
Even at one of the tallest natural peaks on Earth, humans have left their mark in a trail of bacteria as researchers have found germs from coughing and sneezing that have been potentially preserved for centuries on Mount Everest.
Officials are still looking for victims after a fire ripped through a building in Old Montreal last week, killing at least one person. At a press conference Monday morning, spokespersons for the Montreal police and Montreal fire department said six people are still missing. They come from various locations in Quebec, Ontario and the U.S.
Two families were displaced early Monday morning after a fire ripped through a building in Montreal's Quartier Latin. No one was injured, according to the Montreal fire department (SIM).
Lane restrictions are now in place on Wellington Street as construction gets underway on Phase 1 of the Wellington Gateway and Municipal Infrastructure Improvements project.
The first day of spring in the London region will be a beautiful one. The daytime high is forecast to be 6 C, slightly warmer than the average high for this time of year.
A community is in mourning after a 10-year-old girl was killed earlier this week when flames tore through her family’s camping trailer southeast of Brantford.
St. Patrick's day street parties in Waterloo, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau making an announcement in Guelph, and a woman charged with defrauding doulas round out the most-read stories of the week.
An Ontario woman has launched a lawsuit seeking $500,000 from Tim Hortons after she suffered major burns from an alleged ‘superheated’ tea. The company has denied all allegations and said she was ‘the author of her own misfortune.'
The Rideau McDonald's Farewell March brought people from across the city, some dressed in costumes, who wanted to say goodbye to a part of what they say makes Ottawa Ottawa.
If you are yearning to walk the trails around Mud Lake in the Britannia Conservation Area, be aware there are wild turkeys looking for mates. A gang of three have been chasing and pecking at visitors to the nature trail for weeks.
The parents of young Ontario hockey player Ben Teague have been searching for answers since he died while at a team retreat in 2019. The mystery about what happened and the code of silence in hockey culture is explored in CTV W5's 'What Happened to Ben,' on CTVNews.ca and W5's official YouTube channel.
The investigation into a house explosion in Windsor will continue Monday. The process wrapped up for the day around 7 p.m. at the scene on Aspen Lane in east Windsor.
The first day of spring in Windsor-Essex will be a beautiful one. The daytime high is forecast to be 9 C, nearly 2 C warmer than the average high for this time of year.
The University of Prince Edward Island Faculty Association says its staff has gone on strike after what it says are failed attempts to enter additional negotiations with the university's administration.
The student union president at Cape Breton University said food insecurity has become a concern for many students and the on-campus food bank cannot keep up with demand.
The University of Prince Edward Island coach is defending the team’s actions, after the University of Alberta team skated off the ice without handshakes at the U Sports Men’s Hockey National Championship in Charlottetown.
The Town of Strathmore and Siksika Nation hosted the first Lead By Example Powwow this weekend in honour of a young Indigenous man who was shot to death four years ago.
Autopsies confirmed gunshot wounds as the cause of death for two constables responding to a domestic dispute Thursday, the Edmonton Police Service says.
One person has been confirmed dead and six people remain missing as police continue to search for victims after a fire swept through a building in Old Montreal on Thursday.
Vancouver firefighters were called to the Downtown Eastside Sunday evening after a fire destroyed multiple tents in an encampment and spread to a building near Main and East Hastings streets.
An international student was swarmed and beaten by a group of people who ripped off his turban and dragged him across the sidewalk by his hair in Kelowna, B.C., Friday evening, according to a local politician.
Autopsies confirmed gunshot wounds as the cause of death for two constables responding to a domestic dispute Thursday, the Edmonton Police Service says.
