Toronto clears homeless encampment
City says people being offered alternative indoor spaces with meals
Police and city inspectors moved in to clear another homeless encampment at a public park in downtown Toronto on Tuesday, arresting several people, including a photojournalist with The Canadian Press.
The city said it was enforcing trespass notices it issued last month to dozens of people living in four homeless encampments. The notices warned those who refused to leave the park could be removed and face fines of up to $10,000 if convicted.
Police said nine people were arrested during the clearing at Alexandra Park on Tuesday, seven of them for trespassing.
“The city will officially close Alexandra Park today to allow staff to engage with encampment occupants, encouraging them to accept offers of safe indoor accommodation,” the city said in a statement.
“All individuals will be required to leave the park, which will allow city crews to start removing debris and restoring the grounds.”
City spokesman Brad Ross said 26 people were in the park on Tuesday morning. He said they were verbally advised they were trespassing, and 19 left while seven accepted indoor accommodation.
“Anyone arrested for trespassing was done so after being asked to leave the park, which was closed,” Ross said.
Evicted camp occupants gathered on the curbs, some waiting for people still inside to hand them bags and suitcases over the fence. They were unsure where they would go next.
A woman named Nikki said she had been living in the park with her cat since being laid off from her job last fall.
She said she was offered a room in a city-run hotel but decided not to take it when she learned she could not bring her pet.
“These hotels are just fancier versions of jails. There are forced check-ins, they barge in at night for safety checks,” she said. “People feel safer in these little communities.”
Chris Young, a longtime freelance photographer for The Canadian Press, was reporting on the encampment clearing when he was arrested by a city worker for trespassing. He was released with no charges after he was escorted out of the closed-off area in handcuffs.