Mayor Tory and 7 city councillors have issued an open letter to City Council calling for 1,000 new shelter beds in the city to respond to the shelter emergency. Yesterday the city hall committee responsible for shelters supported the call for at least 1,000 new shelter beds and additional measures including extending the 24-hour winter respite centres past April. In the letter they write: "it would be prudent for City Council to take appropriate action to ensure that our shelter system is meeting the needs of Toronto’s homeless. It is essential to create a strategy to ensure that the City is not responding after the fact every winter." What can you do? Make sure your city councillor knows to support this when it goes to city council in February.