This letter was sent to the city’s senior management on Jun 7. At that time, the latest available count of tents on May 29 was 62. On Jun 8, the count went up to 76. https://encampments.chrismoise.ca/ It is fast approaching the 100 that we predicted. We need immediate action to defuse this time bomb. The City is not hearing our pleas to help these people. Their current method is totally ineffective. Please vote for a mayor that has the gumption to fix this. Here is the latest article from Brian Lilley of Toronto Sun. https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/crime-is-up-in-toronto-heres-why-chow-isnt-the-answer
Apparently, physical signature on a paper petition has more weight with the city than an online one. They want to see the signatures are from local residents. Please drop by Councillor Mosie’s Office to sign the paper petition at 329 Parliament Street, Monday to Thursday from 11 am to 4 pm. Or create your own petition, go door to door to get signatures and drop it off at Councillor Moise’s Office when you are done. We want to create a council meeting item to fix Allan Gardens. We need signatures for that to happen.
To Acting Mayor and Senior Management Responsible for Encampments in Toronto
As you all know, Allan Gardens encampment situation has been ongoing for over 2 years. As of May 29, the number of camps has increased to 62, that is a 100% increase in 2 months. As the summer approaches, how many more will set up tents, 100, 200? You have cleared the west side of the park, fantastic, we need you to clear the east side too.
The Housing First initiative looks great on paper but in practice, it is NOT working effectively. Obviously, there is not enough indoor space to house all of them. And some had refused to relocate when housing options were offered. One of them has been there for 2+ years. 7 more years, she can claim squatter's rights. These "Anchored Tenants" are magnet to campers. One gets relocated, two new ones move in. The advocacy groups are handing out tents for those who want them. They want to keep as many tents in the park as possible to force the city to help those that want housing quickly. They supplied the "Anchored Tenants" with water, food, and tent repairs to keep attracting new campers. It works beautifully since hundreds were helped to get housing. You must evict these "Anchored Tenants" in order to make any progress with this park. Put up a temporary fence to control new camps from being set up in the park.
Now we have at least 7 vicious dogs running free belonging to the campers and these dogs are terrorizing neighbourhood dogs and owners using the park. The Humane Society needs to come to collect these dogs to put them in shelter until their owner gets proper housing. This concentration of campers is generating all kinds of human suffering for campers and neighbourhood residents. The latest I heard is there are rat infestations in the park, rats are eating through people's tents. Break-ins and car vandalisms are on the increase in the neighbourhood. Two campers identified by police were captured on video, trying to break into a backyard on Aberdeen Ave. This is a ticking time bomb to explode with overcrowding, the heat, the drugs, open fires, someone in the camp will lose control and hurt a lot of innocent people.
As our city's senior management, you need to come up with solutions to house them and enforce the by-laws 608 to stop encampments in public parks. If encampments is the default option, then, set up proper campsites outside of downtown residential areas. With facilities such as running water, electricity, washrooms, shower, laundry, food preparation, mental health/addiction support, job training, job placement, case management, transportation, etc. The tiny houses in this CBC report is a success story https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2197403715648 for Kitchener, Waterloo. You have a large team at City Hall at your disposal to come up with solutions. The new mayor will need your support and out of the box thinking to solve this complex problem. Building permanent supportive housing is a long term solution that all the mayoral candidates are saying but we need an immediate solution to fix this before someone gets seriously hurt.
The online petition www.change.org/AllanGardens has generated close to 2,000 signatures so far. 1037 from Toronto, 848 from the rest of Canada, 25 from other countries. I am attaching their comments for you to understand the level of frustrations, anxiety, and insecurity the citizens are feeling. We are tax paying citizens, we need you to enforce the by-law 608 to restore Allan Gardens for Everyone to use.
Thank you for your attention and hopefully implement quick actions to relieve this ticking time bomb.