‘This can be an emotionally charged issue’: City removes makeshift shelters from Toronto’s public parks, sparking anger

Thestar.com
March 10, 2021
Victoria Gibson

In late February, Domenico Saxida was drawn from his makeshift shelter in Alexandra Park by a commotion.

There was an argument underway, about three wooden structures. City workers had arrived to remove them, but volunteers and others in the camp were pushing back, telling the crews the structures were still spoken for -- even if the occupants had been away for a few days.

One occupant had moved to a shelter, but wanted the structure to stay in case they were kicked out, outreach volunteer Ginger Dean said. Another had moved to a different park, and was trying to get the structure moved. The third was transient, staying in the park on-and-off.

In the city’s eyes, though, the shelters had been abandoned. That decision comes down to timing, said city spokesperson Brad Ross. If city staff suspect a site is abandoned, there are two more visits over at least 48 hours to confirm, then crews are dispatched to clear it.

The scene in Alexandra Park illustrates ongoing tensions between the city, activists and people who are living outside. While encampment occupants and outreach volunteers say the city is acting too hastily -- noting that homeless people can be transient, and even if they didn’t return, someone else could have a safer, warmer place to sleep -- Ross said the city didn’t want to “encourage” camping in public spaces, by leaving empty structures to be reoccupied.

“While we’re not going around and removing them when people are staying in them, when they are clearly inactive or abandoned, we will remove them to discourage continuing to camp in parks,” Ross said. The city was working out next steps, he added, as warmer days approach.

The city had legal backing to enforce its bylaw prohibiting camping in parks, Ross said, pointing to a court decision last year.

“This can be an emotionally charged issue,” Ross said. “These are very complex issues in individual lives that we’re talking about here.

“But as I said earlier, wooden structures or any encampment on any city property is not permitted.

“So, there isn’t any sort of grey area there.”

Saxida and others, though, believe the city is acting too urgently to clear structures away.

“I couldn’t believe how fast all these people and equipment showed up to haul this box away,” Saxida said. “All they care about is getting the park clean, like we’re garbage here or something.”

Outreach volunteer Simone Schmidt said some homeless people were outside episodically, particularly in the winter, when they may stay indoors some of the time.

Schmidt sees the recent wooden shelter removals as an escalation in enforcement -- without warnings, or a clear sense of who at the city greenlit the decisions.

“There is really a reticence and a hesitance to take accountability for the decisions the city makes,” Schmidt said, noting the lack of information made it hard to raise concerns, or argue that a site was still occupied.

Removal decisions were made by multiple city divisions, from parks to transportation, Ross said, and weren’t appealable by the public.

“If it is deemed to be abandoned, it will be cleaned up,” he said.

The city then disposes of removed structures, though any personal items removed that he said “appear to perhaps have some value” are stored for up to 30 days.

As of March 3, the city counted 274 structures in 38 parks, plus 42 structures at other sites. That represents a decrease from early December, when the city counted 395 tents in 66 parks.

Since last April, city staff and other agencies have referred 1,364 people living outside to indoor spaces, Ross said. As of December, 53 per cent of people moved from camps to shelters were still there, with 116 discharged to a known location like housing, and 331 in unknown locations.

The city recently filed for an injunction against Khaleel Seivwright, a local carpenter who had been building insulated wooden structures since the fall. Seivwright announced online that he would be stopping production on the structures the day before the city filed its application.

Ross says the filing decision was made as the city counted scores of wooden structures across its parks, and as Seivwright was continuing a GoFundMe to construct more.

Activists have criticized the filing, saying the wooden shelters kept people living outside warmer than a tent -- minimizing the need for unsafe heat sources and preventing frostbite. Officials have meanwhile pointed to safety risks: Toronto had its first encampment fire death of the winter last month, when a wooden shelter that hasn’t been connected to Seivwright caught fire.

As of Tuesday afternoon, no date had yet been set for the hearing