A small group of homeless people living in an encampment at Toronto’s Dufferin Grove Park say they won’t leave until the city provides them with permanent housing.
Tension was high between the group and municipal staff this week after the city served encampment residents with trespass notices asking them to leave the park by 9 a.m. on Tuesday.
That prompted several dozen supporters to arrive at the park to deter the city’s eviction efforts.
Throughout the week the city repeatedly said that its outreach staff and community service partners offered access to indoor spaces, housing and other supports to those who remain in the park west of downtown Toronto.
The seven people who remained at the encampment on Friday after city staff convinced others to accept a shelter space issued their list of demands, which includes a one-bedroom apartment with 800 square feet of livable space for each person.
The list shared with The Canadian Press says some of them may accept co-op, Toronto Community Housing units or rent-geared-to-income units but all want the option to view multiple units before deciding.
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Michael DeForge, who was at the park on Friday to support encampment residents, says the city has escalated its eviction efforts while people living in the park and their supporters continue to stand their ground until they are offered permanent housing solutions.
“The city has been here with police. It’s been here with encampment officers … and also been here with a lot of private security guards and all that they have been offering encampment residents has been shelter options,” DeForge said.
Many of those who are camping at the park have already been through the shelter system and they know it’s not going to help them find permanent housing, DeForge said.
“They have entered it and know (it is) sort of a shell game where they get shuffled around the system and then deposited back out on the street and once they’re deposited back out on the street, they don’t have their tent or the belongings or the community they did at the beginning of this process,” he said.
“So instead of submitting themselves to this dehumanizing process again they are saying, ‘We are choosing to stay in this encampment until we actually get permanent housing offers and those offers need to be accessible.’”
Earlier this week, City of Toronto spokesperson Eric Holmes said the municipality has been taking a “human-focused” approach to clearing encampments and talking to people about their shelter and housing options.
Holmes said it’s been an ongoing effort since the winter months.
“We started at 56 encampments in February. We’re down to fewer than 15 now,” he said.
“And we’ll continue those conversations, to understand … how we can get (people) into safe indoor space.”
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