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G20 summit Toronto: Heightened security zone worries prompts help for homeless
Social agencies working to ensure 400 transients not swept up on protests, mass arrests
Liem Vu
Calvin – also known by his “street brothers” as “Poppa Smurf” – will have to leave his corner at Front Street West and University Avenue in less than 8 weeks to make way for world leaders.
The G20 Summit is coming for two days. He’s been there for 12 years.
“It drives me crazy. Why should we be subjected to a higher power coming in? Why should we be kicked off of our corner?” he says.
Calvin says he has been warned by the police that if he does not relocate, “more hassles” will come.
This is the reality for hundreds of street people as Toronto prepares for the G20 summit with traffic control zones and security checkpoints.
The homeless face a raft of issues including getting proper ID, which is tricky if you have no fixed address like Calvin.
Social agencies are fearful that transient people will be swept up into protests or mass arrests come June 26 and 27. There is also the issue of accessibility to shelters and soup kitchens.
Youthlink is a drop-in centre that provides access to food, showers, laundry and legal support to more than 30 street youths a day. It is located in Councillor Adam Vaughan’s ward just northwest of Spadina and Queen, falling just outside the traffic-control zone that police say will run from Lakeshore to Queen, Spadina to Yonge.
“If the security zones increases, it means that it will be a lot more difficult to access our services,” says Sabina Chatterjee, a Youthlink manager.
Mr. Vaughan has forwarded concerns to the City Manager’s office, and the city’s Streets to Home initiative, which helps the homeless find long-term housing, has started identifying and targeting street people in the downtown core.
The issue of identification is being discussed. “They are making sure those coming in to use the soup kitchens and what not … will have their IDs sort of straightened out so they can just cross like any other citizen, accessing services in the downtown,” says Mr. Vaughan.
A special ID card for the homeless was offered in Pittsburgh last September in response to the G20’s heightened security.
In Toronto, there are also worries about the increased presence of the police.
“Historically with these kinds of events, homeless people are at risk of being swept out of the areas,” says Linsey MacPhee, manager of the Toronto Drop-In Network. “There are certain groups of people that don’t have particular good outcomes in their interaction with the police like [those] with mental illness and youth.”
The Integrated Security Unit’s community relations group is working on these issues with different shelters but will leave it largely to the city, said Meaghan Gray, Public Affairs and Community Relations for the Toronto Police G20 Planning Committee.
Mr. Vaughan believes the growing urgency to get the homeless off the streets is the silver lining of the G20.
“This is not a police action, this is a social service action. This is an issue we have to address in the community anyways, the G20 just simply allows us to handle it in a way that speeds it up a little bit,” said Mr. Vaughan.
“It’s good news for the neighbourhood. It’s good news for the city and for the folks on the streets.”
But for Calvin, he will just find another corner.
Citing bed bug infestation and theft, Calvin will not be accepting the city’s offer for shelter.
“I ain’t [going] because I won’t go. I have a half a dozen places. I can live in a bush anywhere.”
Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/heightened-security-zone-worries-prompts-help-for-homeless/article1559715/