Homeless encampments in Rosedale Valley dismantled
Posted January 7, 2020 5:21 am.
Last Updated January 7, 2020 3:28 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A Toronto encampment in Rosedale Valley currently occupied by homeless residents has been dismantled.
The city gave notice last month that it planned to take the settlement apart in the new year. On Tuesday morning, crews came in to clean up the area.
Most of the area residents had already left on their own ahead of the planned eviction.
But some were there when crews arrived.
Dave, who lives at the site and was there early this morning to pick up his things, said he’s not sure where he’ll go and that the whole thing is stressful and left him feeling uncertain.
“What are (city officials) going to do? They don’t show up with a bunch of beds locally for us to just go to and this is our neighbourhood,” he explained.
“I don’t know if they’re going to come and say ‘here’s a referral to all the services’ that we, probably all of us, already have tried and they don’t work.”
Crews have arrived to begin the clean up. The City says this needs to be done for safety reasons. Advocates for the homeless are calling for more shelter spaces as a more permanent solution. pic.twitter.com/YLPdC6r5vB
— Tammie Sutherland (@citytammie) January 7, 2020
Anti-poverty advocates said the move is harmful, humiliating and dangerous, since it forces people in the encampment to rely on an overcrowded shelter system.
But Mayor John Tory said dismantling the camp is necessary to ensure community safety.
The city said the camps pose health and safety risks not only to the residents living there but to people in the surrounding neighbourhoods.
City of Toronto crews will be clearing out homeless encampments in the Rosedale Valley today citing health and safety concerns. I’m told 20 to 30 people had been living in makeshift shelters here under the Sherbourne Bridge at Bloor. pic.twitter.com/U6PO4MxhaD
— Kevin Misener (@Kevin_Misener) January 7, 2020
Watch: Advocates call for the city to halt planned dismantling of homeless encampments
