Toronto wants to put homeless shelters in its suburbs. Neighbours say not so fast
On a Tuesday evening in April, south Etobicoke residents gathered around their laptops to spar over the issue that had been roiling their community for months — a city plan to build a homeless shelter at the end of a residential street.
Even through the sterile format of an online town hall, the intensity of each speaker was palpable. One man warned a shelter at 66 Third St., currently a parking lot at the end of a row of modest homes and a few newer builds, would bring homeless people into their New Toronto neighbourhood from elsewhere in the city. He feared occupants using street substances in public areas, such as the nearby lakeside park.
I’m going full communist on this issue, make the rich enjoy the vibrancy that homeless shelters bring!
There is no point giving a substance abusing addict shelter unless they have first received treatment for their addiction and proven themselves capable of supervised reintegration with society. Housing First as a strategy is the expressway to failure. Mandatory treatment is the solution.
