Residents march on city hall to protest shelter
Bundled in winter coats, hats, and clutching signs in gloved hands, around 20 Vanier residents marched on city hall Wednesday.
The group endured a -14 C chill as they demonstrated against a proposal to build a Salvation Army homeless shelter in their neighbourhood.
The proposal to allow the shelter’s construction was approved by city council in a 16-7 vote on Nov. 22. However, an appeal by local businesses, supported by SOS Vanier — the community group leading the charge against the project — has been sent to the Ontario Municipal Board for review.
Gordon Morrison, a marcher at Wednesday’s event, said the demonstration “shows the spirit of the community.
“We want justice and fairness,” he said. “We didn’t get it at council. We still command it.”
Gillian Kirkland, who helped organize the march, said it was also a way of “denouncing the bad planning on the part of the mayor (Jim Watson).
So it’s a shortsighted, quick fix, Band-Aid solution that ultimately is not going to serve the people it’s intended to help.
“This is not the way to deal with homelessness and it’s not the way to treat this community,” Kirkland said.
“So it’s a short-sighted, quick fix, Band-Aid solution that ultimately is not going to serve the people it’s intended to help.”
As they walked, the Vanier residents waved signs and chanted slogans such as “No Watson No, We’re No Ghetto,” and “Hey Hey, Ho Ho, The Mega-Shelter’s Gotta Go.” Two police cars escorted the marchers and occasionally blocked intersections as they crossed.
Almost exactly an hour after leaving their starting point at Montreal Road and Vanier Parkway, the protesters — red-faced and shivering — reached their destination: the Human Rights Monument outside city hall, where they were met by another group of roughly 10 Vanier residents.
Organizers initially expected 100 to 200 attendees, but attributed the lower-than-expected turnout to the weather.
The event wrapped up with speeches, including from organizers like Kirkland and Andrew Lumsden, the lead behind the demonstration. Bruce McConville, the owner of a garage down the street from the proposed site, also spoke, and argued that the shelter would be bad for businesses in Vanier.
“This will be a travesty if it is built,” he said.