Latest news with #TorontoCityHall
CTV News
16-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Duelling protests target Toronto's mayor and council at city hall
Toronto Watch Natalie Johnson reports on duelling protests outside Toronto City Hall, with demonstrators demanding changes to city management.
Toronto Sun
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
Proposed lawsuit alleges city violated refugees' rights by denying shelter beds
Published Jun 04, 2025 • 3 minute read Toronto City Hall on Friday July 12, 2024. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun files A proposed class-action lawsuit against the City of Toronto alleges the city violated refugee claimants' charter rights by denying them access to shelter beds for nearly a year even when beds were available, arguing the practice was 'systemically negligent.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The proposed suit was filed Friday in an Ontario court on behalf of refugees, refugee claimants and asylum-seekers who sought shelter in Toronto and were unable to get a bed between Nov. 7, 2022, and Oct. 1, 2023 — a period during which it says the city stopped allowing claimants to access its base shelter system. The suit also includes shelter seekers who were told to contact either Service Canada or Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, which the suit says were unable to provide housing assistance. The lawsuit requires certification from a judge to proceed. Linette King, a lawyer involved in the case, claimed thousands of refugees were denied shelter beds during that period — even when beds were available — causing mental-health and physical security issues. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Many of them will have had some trauma coming from their home country, and had that exacerbated here by the experience of facing homelessness when there are shelter beds available,' King said in a phone interview on Wednesday. Read More King added that referrals to Service Canada and the IRCC after shelter seekers were turned away were 'problematic' because the city allegedly knew those agencies wouldn't be able to provide shelter. 'Our position in this action is that it really exacerbates the harm because these individuals are not people that are aware of our systems,' King said. 'They are trusting the information they are being given, and if that information is ineffective … it certainly creates confusion and can add to the harm.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. City spokesperson Elise von Scheel said in an emailed statement that the city will respond 'in due course' and has no further comment as the case is before the court. The statement of claim says that in August 2023, about 3,300 refugee claimants were seeking a shelter bed nightly and more than 1,600 were turned away because of their immigration status, even when beds were available. The proposed suit also claims the city's practice disproportionately impacted members of the Black community, as many of the refugee claimants had arrived from countries with predominantly Black populations. The suit names a 40-year-old man from Nigeria who had arrived in Toronto as a refugee in September 2023 and was allegedly told there were no beds available at a number of city shelters, causing him anxiety and fear. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'The defendant knew its exclusionary practices were systematically racist and contrary to the Human Rights Code as it would — and in fact did — disproportionately impact members of the Black community,' the statement of claim alleges. RECOMMENDED VIDEO Preventing refugee claimants from accessing beds breached some of their charter rights, the statement of claim further argues. 'Security of the person was compromised as they were unable to secure a bed leading to either precarious housing or sleeping out on the street,' it claims. None of the allegations have been tested in court. The proposed class action comes after Toronto Ombudsman Kwame Addo released a report in December 2024 investigating the city's decision to stop allowing refugee claimants to access its base shelter system beds. Addo found that the decision was 'inconsistent with city policies' and 'amounted to systemic racism.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The ombudsman made several recommendations to the city, including clarifying processes for refugee claimants. City manager Paul Johnson wrote in a letter to Addo last year that he did not agree with the report's findings and 'would not take further action' in response to the recommendations. King said the goal of the proposed class action suit is to ensure that Toronto and other cities are compliant with the charter and its values, and that any proposed changes to the shelter system or services that impact refugee claimants are done 'in a thoughtful and responsible way.' 'The hope is that this action is going to provide access to some remedies for these vulnerable people, these refugee claimants,' King said. 'Access should be for everybody, irrespective of their status.' Celebrity Canada Columnists Canada Toronto & GTA
Toronto Sun
03-06-2025
- Health
- Toronto Sun
Toronto to fund more summer programs for youth aimed at violence prevention
Published Jun 03, 2025 • 1 minute read Toronto City Hall on Friday July 12, 2024. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun files Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says the city's summer safety plan will focus on violence prevention measures through programs that help youth build skills and secure jobs. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Chow announced the new plan at an event today that gathered dozens of local organizations, Toronto police chief and several city councillors. She says the safety plan will help 3,000 young people and more than 500 families to participate in summer recreation and youth violence prevention programs. Chow says the city added an extra $5 million in funding toward anti-violence programs for young people in its budget this year, on top of $43 million in funding for its anti-violence plan. Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw says the summer safety plan was designed to make it easy for youth and families to find violence prevention resources and it's an opportunity for the police and young people to learn from each other. The city says the plan will increase parks and recreation youth drop-in programming by 50 per cent throughout the summer and deliver more than 140 youth and family programs, grants and drop-ins. Other Sports Canada Toronto & GTA Other Sports Canada
Toronto Sun
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
Councillor argues for better consultation on new shelters
A city councillor is calling for consultations about six new homeless shelters amid complaints that Toronto City Hall hasn't been transparent. Photo by Jack Boland/Toronto Sun files Councillor James Pasternak wants to break Toronto's silence on shelters. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Pasternak has put forward a member's motion that calls for individual consultations with the public for six new proposed homeless shelters, with input from the local councillor on when meetings take place and whether they're held online or in person. 'The city has delegated the public consultation process to the community engagement facilitator public progress team,' the motion says. 'Community consultation sessions and public engagement campaigns have taken on a generalized approach, which does not appropriately reflect the needs and concerns of local communities which will be impacted by the six new proposed shelters.' City council will consider the idea when it meets this week, starting Wednesday. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. One of the six shelters is planned to open at 1220 Wilson Ave. – in the southwest corner of Pasternak's ward – by 2030. Pasternak did not respond to a request for comment from the Toronto Sun, but previously expressed hope a shelter could instead be hosted at nearby Humber River Hospital. Earlier this month, the Sun reported on the Niagara Neighbours for Community Safety group's battle to have their voices heard regarding 629 Adelaide St. W., a relocated shelter expected to open in the coming weeks. That came after a third-party consultant's report suggested 'NIMBYism' is stigmatizing Toronto's homeless population. On Tuesday afternoon, Niagara Neighbours co-founder Diane Chester told the Sun that the city was busy power washing the brick building at 629 Adelaide. She said while she wants more transparency and consultation in setting up shelters, the fact that a councillor had to bring forward such a motion 'makes you wonder what's going on at city hall.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'They can't get any support from anybody – like, even from the mayor – for their neighbourhoods. It just shocked me,' Chester said. 'I was shocked that they had to go to those lengths, and that nobody is willing to have a dialogue.' 629 Adelaide St. W., seen in May 2025, is slated to become a homeless shelter soon. Photo by Jack Boland/Toronto Sun files The member's motion was seconded by Parthi Kandavel. Like Pasternak, Kandavel did not respond to a request for comment from the Sun but has gone public with concerns about an impending shelter, in his case at 2535 Gerrard St. E. in his ward of Scarborough Southwest. Last year, Kandavel expressed concern about that site, which is near a daycare. That was followed by a public rebuke from Mayor Olivia Chow. 'The location of shelters remain confidential, and I sure hope the councillor did not violate the confidentiality clause, because the city has not announced where are these shelters,' Chow said last year, according to a CityNews report. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Kandavel himself complained about the consultation process. 'I was never given the space and place to give the city feedback about what it takes to make shelters work in our community and to push back on what doesn't,' Kandavel told the National Post, according to a report published early this year. He also told the Post he has reservations about the use of third-party consultants, and said he wanted the city's representatives to meet the public in person. The six proposed sites are no secret anymore, and the City of Toronto has them listed on its website. Along with the Wilson and Gerrard sites, shelters are expected to come to 1615 Dufferin St., 2204-2212 Eglinton Ave. W., 68 Sheppard Ave. and 66 Third St. Online meetings will be held next week regarding changes to zoning for the six shelter sites. The Gerrard and Dufferin shelters are due to open first, in 2027. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Read More While it seems too late for major changes at Adelaide, Chester said if city hall wants to get serious about consultation, her neighbours deserve to know the 'safety plan.' The Adelaide shelter is just steps from a school, a church and a number of tidy row homes. The city can still host a town hall or send bureaucrats to knock on doors to show they are listening, she said. 'The problem with our neighbourhood,' Chester said, 'is the trust has been broken from the beginning.' jholmes@ Sunshine Girls Columnists Columnists Toronto Maple Leafs Basketball
Calgary Herald
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Calgary Herald
'Publicly hired and publicly fired': Some former MPs struggle to deal with life after Parliament
Article content 'I was told that I was toxic,' he said during an emotional speech to the Procedure and House Affairs Committee. 'The Conservatives hated me. No organization would hire me. My marriage failed. My space with my children was not in a good place and most particularly my passion — the thing I believed so ardently in … the purpose of my life — was in ashes at my feet.' Article content Holland returned to the House of Commons in 2015, and later served as minister of health before deciding not to run in this most recent election. Article content But his is not the only tale of caution. And it's not just federal politicians who face post-election challenges. Article content Article content Lorenzo Berardinetti, a former Toronto city councillor and Ontario MPP with a 30-year career in politics, faced a series of challenges in the immediate years after losing in the 2018 provincial election: difficulty finding work, a divorce, a brain seizure and the rising cost of housing. Article content By 2023, he was living in a homeless shelter in Ajax, Ont., where he stayed for more than a year. 'I never thought this would have happened to me,' he was quoted as saying earlier this year, 'but it happened.' Article content Article content Thanks to a former political staffer at Toronto City Hall and Queen's Park who started an online fundraising campaign, Berardinetti found shelter. Article content Not all former MPs, of course, face the severe challenges faced by Holland or Berardinetti. LeBlanc said it's impossible to quantify the number struggling with serious problems but warns that it's a 'significant minority.' Article content Michael Browning, an Ottawa psychotherapist who has treated MPs in the past, said losing an election is similar to any other major professional setback, except it's often more severe emotionally because of the huge sacrifices involved. Another important factor, he added, is that unlike many other professional defeats, such as losing a bid for promotion, there's no existing job to fall back on. Article content 'There's no consolation prize,' said Browning, the director of The Whitestone Clinic. Article content Alain Therrien, the MP for the Quebec riding of La Prairie-Atateken for more than five years until last week, said it's a bit easier to deal with an election loss when you've been through it before. Article content Article content 'It's tough, that's for sure,' he said. 'But for me, it's my fourth time, so I'm starting to get used to it.' Article content Therrien, the Bloc Quebecois' House Leader in the most recent parliament, said elected officials must try to remember that the jobs are always temporary. Article content '(The voters) have the right to say 'we would like to have someone other than you.' We must accept it.' Article content Therrien said he isn't sure what he'll do next, but he hasn't ruled out a return to teaching. Another run for public office is also possible. Article content Wilfert, the former Toronto-area MP, has been busy since leaving Parliament but he understands the grief. Former MPs, he said, have to transition from somebody whose time and attention are in high demand to possibly struggling to find work. Many find themselves struggling emotionally after the shock of a loss, with alcohol problems often entering the picture.
