Members of the Bathurst Quay Neighbourhood Association (BQNA) are raising awareness of people trapped in cycle of homelessness in local neighbourhood parks.
Date: Thursday, June 4, 2020, 10 a.m.
Location: Little Norway Park (southwest corner, across from 34 Little Norway Crescent).
Speakers: MPP Chris Glover, BQNA members, supportive housing advocates, and area residents.
An influx of tent encampments in the downtown core has raised the visibility of the homelessness crisis gripping our city. With more than 300 cases of COVID-19 in our inadequate shelter system, many are reluctant to accept spots when they become available. Little Norway Park and two other nearby parks have seen a steady increase of tents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Neighbourhood residents have stepped up to support immediate needs by providing some basic hygiene supplies and food, but the gaps in other basic needs are grossly lacking.
Members of the BQNA are shocked to learn that the province has:
Reduced funding for the Ontario Ministry of Housing by $161 million in 2019-20, even though it had received an additional $100 million in federal funding under the Federal National Housing Strategy (NHS)
Cancelled the provincial goal of ending chronic homelessness by 2025
The BQNA demands that the province increase transparency around the federal funding that was provided and asks why it is not being leveraged in these urgent circumstances. In addition, the Province must provide immediate funding.
Please consider sending your own email or letter calling on the province to stop cutting housing support to the city of Toronto. A few points are provided in the information sheet at the link below. Please also see the factsheet for more details.
Contact information:
Premier Doug Ford
Email: premier@ontario.ca
Tel: 416-325-1941
Hon Steve Clark, Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
Email: steve.clark@pc.ola.org
Tel. 416-585-7000