Toronto’s encampments persist, despite the pandemic, despite the coming winter.

By Dimitrije Martinovic
Dimitrije is a staff at FOCUS MEDIA ARTS CENTRE

In today’s program David Wall interviews Charlotte Smith, a volunteer with the Toronto Encampment Support Network, about the issues facing Toronto’s homeless population, both before and after the COVID-19 crisis. Charlotte outlines the present status of those in need of housing, from the lack of affordable housing, to why someone would choose to take shelter in a tent, especially in the middle of winter.

According to Charlotte, the official response from the City of Toronto has only exacerbated the situation. For instance, when the City has offered emergency shelter beds to people living in encampments (often in some other part of the city), officials have neglected to consider that these same homeless individuals may be staying in a particular area because they grew up there, or this is where they are accustomed to accessing social of medical services, or they may have family there. But these are just the tip of the iceberg, the roots of problems run much deeper. Certainly, it cannot go unmentioned that in Toronto we are in the midst of a housing crisis. On average a one-bedroom apartment runs for $1,800.00 a month, and so, these kinds of rates all but exclude anyone who may be low income or for that matter living below the poverty line.

Housing rights activists and critics of the present housing policies cite the dearth of investment in affordable housing as one of the contributing factors for why we seem to be facing this dilemma of rising numbers of homeless people.

For many people living in encampments, shelters do not provide an adequate solution for a variety of reasons, but most importantly because of the threat imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, people have  chosen to live in a tent over the shelter system which is overcrowded, often dangerous, and ultimately only offer a temporary solution to one’s housing needs.