Thurs, June 16, 2021. Health Providers Against Poverty (HPAP) and Street Nurses Network (SNN) delivered the attached Public Health Violation notices to the leaders of the City of Toronto’s “task force table” on Encampments: Mayor John Tory, City Manager Chris Murray and Deputy Fire Chief Jim Jessop – demanding they cease and desist with the violent evictions of encampments and take an immediate public health approach. Please feel free to share the attached images online and with your networks. Lots of material on the HPAP twitter feed: https://twitter.com/HPAP_Ontario

#NoEncampmentEvictions #TOPublicHealthFail

With the notices, HPAP and SNN are also releasing a letter issuing urgent demands to Mayor John Tory, City of Toronto Council Members, & Dr. Eileen De Villa, Toronto Medical Officer of Health, which can be read here: Health Providers Against Poverty and Street Nurses Network call on Mayor John Tory, Toronto Medical Officer of Health Dr Eileen De Villa to end encampment evictions.

“We are calling on the City to immediately cease and desist the violent displacement of encampment residents across the City”, HPAP Co-Chair Dr Maggie Hulbert said. “Violent security actions like we saw at the Lamport encampment eviction a few weeks ago only compound the physical and psychological trauma experienced by encampment residents. These attempted clearings are also not in keeping with healthy public policy. The Mayor’s lack of interest in meaningful engagement with the residents of these sites, as well as with people living in Shelters, is incredibly disappointing, and contradictory to City Council’s own recently passed Motion to engage encampments using Housing First and Human Rights based approaches.”

Around the world, public health agencies and human rights organizations, including Public Health Ontario, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the United Nations have issued guidance advising against encampment evictions. These reports and guidelines cite considerations including the risks attendant with separating residents from their communities and health supports, significant increased risk of fatal overdoses, and concerns related to increasing potential COVID-19 exposures for residents within shelters and other temporary accommodations.

#NoEncampmentEvictions #TOPublicHealthFail

Attend the June 2, 2021 LTB hearing to support in attendance Inglewood Arms Tenants Status /  Future Sale and Development

Hello members of Health Providers Against Poverty (HPAP) and Shelter & Housing Justice Network (SHJN), you are invited to a consultation to help develop the official Community Safety & Wellbeing plan for Toronto (details below).

Apologies for the late notice on this, but for those who can make it, the consultation will be TOMORROW:
Tues May 18th, 6:30pm -8:00pm
Via Zoom (invite link below)
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85465237007?pwd=aHFlK2FmQW53VFZHTHFaajljU1IwZz09

If you want to join late, and can’t make it until 7 for example, please still join. Your feedback would be welcomed.

 

The plan is a large undertaking, which is creating the roadmap for taking Toronto from a city that focuses so heavily on emergency response, to a culture of prevention, early intervention and social development, including becoming a trauma-informed-city (in every service and function), which resources and reacts according to actual needs.  The plan will prioritize four areas of risk:

– Community Trauma

– Community Violence

– Harm and Victimization

– Community Justice.

This plan will bring together a multitude of initiatives and strategies, covering: 

Addictions, 

Mental Health, 

Policing Alternatives/Reforms, 

Crisis Intervention models, 

Anti-BIPOC Racism, 

Access and Equity, 

Supportive and Social Housing, 

Client Discharges, 

Homelessness,

Disabilities (Seen/Unseen),

Community Justice Centres (restorative and alternative justice models), 

Gun Violence, 

Hate Crimes, 

Grief & Trauma, 

Indigenous-Led Solutions, 

Reducing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), 

Sex Trade & Human Trafficking, 

Traum Informed City model,

Place-Based Solutions, 

Breaking the silos between all of these and more…. 

We have been meeting and working with countless groups and communities on these fronts.The consultation is looking for honest, direct feedback and will be asking about:

1. Building off of what works (and Eliminating what does not) – Advance, Eliminate and Re-tool existing programs, strategies and policies that support vulnerable populations.

2. Addressing the Gaps – Identify barriers to service access and policies that contribute to harm and victimization.

3. Partnership and Innovation – Identify the role the City can play (or should not play) to respond and support further coordination/collaboration.

 

4. Action – Identify recommendations/actions/big ideas/existing strategies or reports/pilots to embed into the Safe TO report.
Frontline workers should feel free to invite their frontline colleagues to participate in this consultation!

The consultation will be facilitated by Tommy Taylor, (Frontline Shelter Worker, SHJN & HPAP Steering Committee) and Scott Mckean from the City of Toronto. Attendees are invited to speak as freely and openly as possible! Confidentiality of identities will be maintained in all reports derived from the consultations.

Tommy Taylor
SHJN & HPAP Steering Committee

Visit SHJN Facebook Page

Justin Trudeau and the Federal Government need to step up now!  Toronto is in crisis and #WeDeamndActionTO! The housing crisis in Toronto is at an all time high, making it near impossible to find pathways out of homelessness.  COVID-19 outbreaks are rampant in Toronto shelter spaces, isolation spaces are full, encampments are being harmfully evicted (#NoEncampmentEvictions ) – the Liberals must take real action on housing now! See the demands of over 60 organizations in Toronto, representing countless frontline & healthcare workers, outreach and volunteer networks, faith groups and more. Read our letter and list of demands to the City, the Province and Federal Governments here: https://docs.google.com/…/1iGR5k4epEX3vu8Tby3M9x0R…/edit

WATCH:

We are holding 3 days of targeted awareness and action, one day each for every level of government. 

Today we are telling John Tory and the City of Toronto: #WeDemandActionTO & #NoEncampmentEvictions! The crisis with COVID outbreaks and conditions in Toronto shelter spaces is critical -isolation spaces are full, positive clients are being sent back to shelters to try and isolate…and the looming forced eviction of encampment residents is unacceptable. See the demands of over 60 organizations in Toronto, representing countless frontline & healthcare workers, outreach and volunteer networks, faith groups and more. This City must act now!!!

https://www.facebook.com/events/3669772673076105/

Join us tonight, March 25th at 7pm for the relaunch of OCAP’s Speaker Series.

This month features a discussion on Tenant Organizing, with special speakers from Parkdale Organize, People’s Defence, and Inglewood Arms, as the struggle against pandemic evictions and gentrification in the city continues…

Who you’ll be hearing from:

Parkdale Organize is a group of working class people who organize for neighbourhood power. On Saturday, March 27 at 11am there will be a rally for tenants at 55 Triller who have been accused of “illegal acts” and targeted for eviction by the largest landlord in Canada for organizing in their building against disrepair, disrespect and dangerous conditions. As we discuss the eviction crisis and methods of organizing, let us also discuss how we can support and defend tenant organizing in this city that is currently under attack.

People’s Defence was launched in 2017, to establish REAL POWER for OUR CLASS (Poor, Immigrant, and Working-Class People) across the City. Our work is not limited to actions and protests. We’ve organized Tenant Unions door-to-door, and fought together against Corporate Slumlords. We haven’t just gone on rent strike, or stopped people from being evicted; but set up mutual-aid networks, got repairs and sanitation done, distributed food, and come to the defense of individual community members. The need to dismantle Neoliberalism and Neocolonialism has never been clearer. This will be a long battle, but it starts with getting organized & taking a stand in our buildings, schools and workplaces.

The Inglewood Arms is downtown Toronto rooming house that has been home for more than 90 people, many of whom have long term tenancies of up to 10 year. Inglewood provides marginally affordable housing for low income people with fixed incomes and a range of vulnerability issues. It is now for sale and facing the likelihood of purchase by a large corporate developer. Tenants rightly fear they will lose both their housing and their community. OCAP is working with the community in an effort to support tenant resistance activity that can protect their housing rights and prevent displacement into Toronto’s current homeless catastrophe.

Hope to see you there!

OCAP Toronto is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: OCAP Speakers Series
Time: Mar 25, 2021 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88295186250?pwd=a3EwLy9JUEVNdlVxQ0NkTHZvcFB0UT09

Meeting ID: 882 9518 6250
Passcode: 778320
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