Candidates clash over Toronto homeless camps

Seven of Toronto’s mayoral candidates clashed over how to deal with homeless encampments, during a debate hosted by CP24 on June 15. And one of the fiercest clashes came between Olivia Chow and Anthony Furey.

Furey, a journalist, vowed to put families first in his drive to get rid of the encampments.

“I’m going to phase out the drug injection sites that are causing so much of this disorder, lawlessness on our streets,” Furey said. “There are people involved in the drug crisis, going up and saying insults to 4-year-old kids, throwing needles around in front of the school… And I’m the leader who’s going to say we’re going to phase out those drug sites and replace them with treatment centers. A merciful society does not keep people on drugs.”

Chow challenged that, saying many doctors believe safe injection sites are part of the solution.

“What they have said is that it should be a housing first policy, [or] no treatment will work if they don’t have a roof over their heads,” said Chow, a former NDP MP and former city councillor.

“So, our kids have to be harassed for eight years, ten years as they build the houses for them?” Fury replied.

“It’s hard for the doctors to provide the treatment you’re talking about until they have a roof over their heads,” Chow said. “So, tent camps… some are hooked. They need mental health care, all those things you talk about,” she said.

“I’m going to do all of that, but we’re going to put families first,” said Furey. “We’re going to work with the province, the federal government…”

“Where are you going to find housing for them?” challenged Chow.

“My priority is families first and children first,” Furey replied.

At that point, the debate turned to other candidates, but Chow had made her position clear earlier in the debate.

“Remember,” she said, “there are people in these tents, just moving them from one park to another park to the subway isn’t going to work. … What we need to do is create 24/7 respite centers. If they become homeless, they can get help, find a place, get a meal and settle down.”

However, Furey previously argued that the status quo is not working.

“Do we want our city to be even more like those horrible scenes we see in places like Seattle, San Francisco, downtown Vancouver?” asked Fury. “Because Toronto is starting to slide in that direction. We are a compassionate society and we must take care of these individuals. But at the same time, we must not lower our standards any further.”

The clash of philosophies was also evident in the views of other candidates.

“We need to take a housing-first approach,” said Ana Bailao, a former city council member. “That is why, as mayor, I receive support for shelters. I will double the number of modular supportive housing, which is happening quickly, and I will deal with the federal government for a third of the shelter users who are refugees today.

Mitzie Hunter, a former provincial cabinet minister, said the effects of the pandemic have exacerbated the situation.

“We just came out of a global pandemic. And one of the reasons there is so much homelessness on our street is that people in this city need more mental health and wellness support,” she said. “Everyone can see that our city is on a slide, is at a turning point and we cannot afford to be at a breaking point. So that’s why, in addition to the shelters, we also need supportive housing. But we also need to actually have a program to build more affordable housing.”

City Councilman Josh Matlow warned against evicting tent camps just like that.

“A housing-first approach, rather than a violent and ineffective one where our homeless people just went to other parks, alleys and under bridges, was ineffective and inhumane,” he said.

“I have a plan to make sure we provide relief efforts to make sure the individuals in our parks have access to shelters, as a Band-Aid solution…housing.”

Councilor Brad Bradford said building more shelter beds is not really a solution.

“A few years ago we had 6,000 shelter beds. Today we have 9,000 shelter beds and they are always 99 percent full,” says Bradford. “Building more shelters is not the solution. We need to build housing… We cannot let people live in parks and that is why we need to build more supportive housing as soon as possible.”

Former Toronto police chief Mark Saunders blames much of the problem on years of government inaction.

“City Hall has … neglected this problem that did not arise overnight, but was created by years and years of not paying attention,” Saunders said. “When we look at these encampments, this is not a safe environment. We have people living with mental health issues [issues]. We have people who are addicted. We have people going through economic situations, and we have criminals,” he said. He added that a multifaceted approach is needed.

“But we need to have outward resources working on the issues 24 hours a day.”

The debate heard that there could be more than 200 homeless camps in Toronto, in some 95 locations.

Toronto’s by-election for mayor is set for June 26 and pre-voting has ended.