Shelter availability deemed an emergency

Mayor John Tory and council are being pressed to address what advocates and councillors call a growing crisis in the city’s emergency shelter system as temperatures drop.

On Monday, the community development and recreation committee approved several motions aimed at increasing shelter capacity as front line workers urged politicians to do more and councillors warned of pending deaths this winter.

A successful motion from Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam asked Tory to declare an emergency in the shelter system and move immediately to open new beds. It passed 4-1. Councillor Michael Ford was the only vote against.

Council has final say next month on whether to make that and other requests of the mayor and city staff.

“We don’t have the luxury to be patient anymore,” Wong-Tam told the committee.

“We are in an emergency situation, which means that we have to respond accordingly.”

“People are going to die this winter. I think that we can logically assume that’s going to happen.”

Wong-Tam’s motion also asked that Tory work with city staff to find funding to create additional temporary shelter space and to request the federal government open the Fort York and Moss Park armouries for shelter.

Declaring an emergency would give Tory the power to act without council approval, according to city rules.

A statement from Tory’s office did not address if he would invoke emergency powers but said the mayor “continues to believe that we all must do more to make sure our vulnerable residents have a safe and secure place to live.”

It noted “city staff have been clear and consistent in stating that use of the armouries would not be a safe or adequate option for shelter space” and that the demand on the shelter system has been temporarily increased because refugee families have struggled to find housing.

Council has asked the other levels of government to help pay for refugee resettlement and earlier this month extended leases at hotels to accommodate refugee families.

On Nov. 16, the city’s emergency shelter system had a total of 5,591 spots available and was at 96-percent capacity. That total included 1,305 spots in motels, of which 93 per cent were taken, to manage the overflow in the family system. The city adds an additional 85 spots to the overall system during the weekend and next year an additional 270 spots are expected to be brought online, according to city staff.

The city has set a shelter capacity target of 90 per cent.

On Monday, the committee also passed a motion from Councillor Joe Mihevc, Tory’s newly appointed poverty reduction advocate, for staff to open 1,000 new shelter beds.

City staff highlighted to committee that even with funding they have struggled to find space for shelters.

Street nurse Cathy Crowe has long called on the city to open the armouries, something former mayors David Miller and Mel Lastman both did.