Staff from the City of Toronto, accompanied by police, cleared an encampment of temporary shelters in the downtown area on Sunday morning.
The city told Global News it removed eight unoccupied tents from Clarence Square Park, just north of the Rogers Centre, but left one tent and one temporary housing structure in place.
There were four people known to be living in the temporary encampment. The city said one remains in place, two accepted referrals from city to staff find “inside space” and one “returned to housing.”
Natalie, a member of Encampment Support Network Parkdale, said the eviction took place “pretty quickly” on Sunday morning.
She said one of the four people living in Clarence Square Park is Indigenous and “as an Indigenous individual, he feels he has a right to live here.” She said a tipi was among the structures dismantled by the city.
Natalie said residents living outside often don’t feel safe in Toronto’s shelter system or its overflow hotels.
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“It is at the intersection of Indigenous rights on this land but also the rights of unhoused people to have access to safe housing, which they don’t have,” she told Global News.
A trespass notice was served to the four people living in Clarence Square on June 4, providing 72 hours to leave the encampment.
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“The Parks Bylaw prohibits encroaching upon or taking possession of a park by installing a structure on park land; occupying a park for non-recreational uses; and camping, tenting, or otherwise living in parks,” the city said in a statement in early June.
The timeline allowed the city to enforce its eviction notice from June 7.
“Streets to Homes will continue to offer referrals to inside space and supports,” a city spokesperson said of the remaining person living in the park. “The June 4 trespass notice remains in effect.”
Natalie said parks can be seen as a safer space for unhoused people.
“There’s a community, it’s outside, they look out for each other and so for a lot of people, this is the best option,” she said.
Last month, the city put out a procurement request for private security guards to patrol major parks including Trinity Bellwoods Park, Lamport Stadium Park and Dufferin Grove.
“The City also wants to prevent a repeat of large encampments being established that the city and many other cities across North America saw during the pandemic,” officials said in May. “It is unsafe, illegal and unhealthy to camp in City parks.”
Toronto police confirmed officers were present when city staff arrived at Clarence Square Park on Sunday morning but did not take part in the operation.
“Only as a last resort, and in partnership with City staff, would police officers carry out enforcement,” a police spokesperson said.
The operation ended around 12 p.m., the city said.
“I think people need to recognize that there’s a very real housing crisis in this city and that all of us are maybe one to two pay cheques away from being homeless ourselves,” Natalie added.
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