More people than ever before are experiencing homelessness in London, Ontario. Buildings are left empty but those who are homeless are forcibly prevented from being able to access housing or shelter anywhere. As a result, more people are dying premature and preventable deaths than ever before. In this frigidly cold winter, the first Winter in years that the City of London chose not to fund a Winter Response, people experiencing homelessness lack adequate shelter spaces during both the day and the night. Because of this, along with an increase in deaths, we are also seeing more people losing fingers, toes, hands, feet, and even limbs due to frostbite, infections, and untreated injuries. People--mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children, seniors, friends, lovers--are being abandoned to die. They are being flushed from the City as if they are human waste. This is unacceptable to us.

The City says there is nothing more that it can do but we know that this is not true. Therefore, we are calling on the City of London to immediately fund adequate day and night shelter spaces that respect the diverse needs of the 400+ people who are left outside when all the shelters are full (for example, some people have partners and do not want to be separated, some people have animal companions who are their only surviving loved one and they should not have to give them up, some people require medications to manage pain, and nobody should be denied access to shelter for these reasons). These must be places of care, not simply warehouses patrolled by armed guards.

Should the City persist in spreading the lie that they lack the funding to do this, we urge the City to deduct $5,000 from the pay of every senior staff member on the City's team for each premature and preventable death that occurs. So far, since the beginning of 2025, this would mean a minimum deduction of $45,000.00 from each senior staff member. We trust that this would fund life-saving efforts on behalf of our fellow Londoners--Londoners the City staff are paid by our tax dollars to care for. Alternatively, the City could use other funds (funds we know they have but which they deny having because they don't see the lives of impoverished people as a worthwhile investment). Either way, immediate change is possible and we, the undersigned, demand the City act now to produce it.