City has lost its compassion

Re Tory pushes for more shelter beds, Dec. 5

I had the opportunity to be in Toronto this weekend, visiting my father who is in a nursing home there.

I grew up in Toronto and lived there until 1992, when I left to take up a position in London, England, where I have been living ever since.

Although I have been back to Toronto over the years to admire how the city has become a modern, sophisticated representation of what Canada personifies in the world, I had been blind to a more squalid reality.

Never having spent the weekend in the downtown area, I was shocked when going for a jog down Bay Street on Saturday and Sunday morning.

There, at virtually every corner, lay bundles of rags, under which were people. Some lay there with tipped wheelchairs.

They were huddled from the cold, keeping warm over ventilation grates. People seemingly oblivious, simply walked by without a glance. While being used to these sights in New York, Los Angeles and even London, it astounded me to see this in downtown Toronto, below the new skyline that clearly frames its wealth.

How can a city that has prided itself over the decades for being socially responsible, inclusive, kind, compassionate and considerate cast out the most vulnerable of its citizens to live on the streets? This is not the city I knew, nor the country I left 25 years ago. Toronto it is time to examine your soul and once again find your roots.

Wolf von Kumberg, London, England