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Toronto Sun
an hour ago
- 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
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
Ontarians comfortable with their place in federation, westerns not so much: Poll
Prime Minister Mark Carney, right, listens to Ontario Premier Doug Ford speak during the First Ministers Meeting in Ottawa in March. Photo by Dave Chan / AFP On the heels of the first ministers meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney in Saskatoon this week, a new Angus Reid poll said Alberta and Saskatchewan are far more likely to feel poorly represented by Ottawa, while Ontario is the most comfortable province in the federation. 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 poll also showed that Alberta and Saskatchewan are a unique subregion of their own with B.C. and Manitoba hesitating to join in on some of the more extreme aspects of western alienation like separation. The poll also showed that British Columbians were also less likely to see commonality between themselves and those living in the Prairie provinces. Meanwhile, Manitoba and Saskatchewan residents were twice as likely as Albertans to define themselves as western Canadian first instead of Canadian. 'It's a whole package of issues you had prior to the first ministers meeting,' Angus Reid president Shachi Kurl told the Toronto Sun . 'Go back and separation post-election was on a lot of lips and sovereignty and all of that. 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. 'What we really wanted to do was canvas support for (Alberta Premier Danielle) Smith's condition for separation in terms of strong feelings. Are people in Alberta and Saskatchewan, as well as outside, how do they feel about the idea of it?' RECOMMENDED VIDEO Kurl said one of the things that drives people in Western Canada 'absolutely bananas' is that they are 'often sort of lumped in as one piece of congealed goo. 'I think this data serves to remind people across the country that the West is not an analogous blob,' she said. 'It's made up of four provinces that are kept together by a common thread of feeling like they'd like to see more acknowledgement in terms of the economic, cultural and other contributions that they make to the country, but that doesn't mean they're all approaching it in the same way.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The poll found at least 60% of respondents in all four provinces said the West has been treated unfairly and at least two-thirds said the West is disadvantaged politically. Meanwhile, at least three-quarters said people in Ontario and Quebec have no idea about western priorities. More than half of Canadians (55%) said the West is a unique region in Canada, but 48% in Ontario and Atlantic Canada and 62% in Quebec disagreed. While 59% or more in all four western provinces said the West has 'too little' economic influence in Canada, majorities in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada said it has 'the right amount.' Following the first ministers meeting with Carney, Ontario Premier Doug Ford called it 'the best' in years, while Smith was 'encouraged by the immediate change of tone.' The Angus Reid Institute conducted an online survey from May 6 to 8 among 3,613 Canadian adults. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of plus or minus 1.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Read More Celebrity Columnists Toronto & GTA Toronto Blue Jays World
Toronto Sun
6 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
WARMINGTON: Fast acting cops and paramedics saved lives after mass shooting in North York North York shooting
As people at the shooting scene "accosted" Toronto cops, they kept applying life-saving measures Get the latest from Joe Warmington straight to your inbox Toronto Police forensic officers walk through a large crime scene on Wednesday behind a condo near Yorkdale Mall. Gunmen sprayed bullets into a crowd in the Flemington Rd.- Zachary Crt. area Tuesday night, killing one victim and wounding five. Pictured on June, 4, 2025. (Jack Boland, Toronto Sun) It was Toronto the good, bad, deadly and heroic — all wrapped up in one incident. 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 This was an all hands-on deck, battlefield triage scene under hostile and potentially lethal conditions. The best of Toronto and the worst of Toronto. Only in Toronto could our hero police and EMS first responders be heckled and interfered with while trying to save people's lives. But, as Toronto Police Association President Clayton Campbell told The Toronto Sun, his officers and Toronto medics went about their life-saving work anyway. There was plenty of that to do. One person was killed after being shot multiple times Tuesday night, near Yorkdale Mall, in the Flemington Rd.- Zachary Crt. area in Toronto's 13th homicide of 2025. Five more were wounded but will live. Several men were bleeding from gunshots to their legs. Another from shots to a foot. Another took a slug into his knee. Another to a thigh. A female was shot in the wrist. 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. A bird's-eye view of a Toronto Police officer taking pictures at a crime scene in Lawrence Heights on June 4, 2025, the day after one person was killed and five wounded in a mass shooting. (Jack Boland, Toronto Sun) CPR was administered. Tourniquets applied. Stretchers were everywhere. People were pressing on bullet holes to prevent blood from flowing out of wounded bodies. Police have not yet confirmed the motive for this mass shooting, but sources say the 31-year-old victim who died was wheelchair bound after being wounded in a previous shooting. It was all out mayhem, with no one diving in to help knowing whether more gunfire was to come. As the Sun's Jack Boland reported, police are investigating theories about a possible settling of ongoing beefs in Toronto's rap world. There is much speculation on social media, but so far, it's not clear how any of the madness that incurred pieces together? Recommended video Toronto Homicide detectives are expected to update the media again Thursday. We do know this was a nasty, brazen mass shooting with witnesses describing three masked shooters opening fire into a crowd before taking off in a car. It was a horrifying scene. Ugly. There were pools of blood everywhere. There were also blood trails left by those trying to flee, a wheelchair turned on its side, and evidence markers strewn all over the street inside a walkway tunnel. It looked like a war zone. Gunmen fired a hail of at least 20 bullets into a crowd of people, leaving innocent people caught in the middle of a gutless shootout. But, luckily, Toronto Police officers and Toronto EMS paramedics were not only on the scene quickly but were at their very best. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Shooting:(UPDATE)-1 male confirmed deceased-5 people with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds transported to hospitalCOMMAND POST: Ranee Ave & Allen Rd (under the overpass)#GO1154114 ^av— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) June 4, 2025 'They saved lives,' said one officer involved in the call. 'They are all heroes.' There's no question about it. This could have been far worse as there were efforts by some to stop officers and medics from doing the job required to keep people from bleeding out. 'Our members rushed to the scene after gunfire erupted in a residential neighbourhood and while performing life-saving measures, including using their tourniquets, our members were accosted by surrounding bystanders, hindering their efforts to provide first aid,' said Campbell. One officer even took the keys from one paramedic and drove an ambulance to Sunnybrook hospital, allowing for an extra medic to work on the wounded victim. 'As always, they did what needed to be done to keep themselves and others safe,' said Campbell. 'This could've been a multiple murder if it wasn't for the efforts of our members and our partners at Toronto paramedics and nearby hospitals. We are grateful they stood up and proud to have their backs.' Now it's up to the homicide detectives to determine what was behind the shooting. And a community can thank and honour the fast-moving first responders who prevented this from having even more carnage. Celebrity Toronto & GTA Canada Toronto Blue Jays Toronto & GTA
Toronto Sun
8 hours ago
- Business
- Toronto Sun
Canada in 'intensive discussions' amid latest U.S. tariff hike: Carney
"The latest tariffs on steel and aluminum are unjustified," PM Carney told reporters on Wednesday Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks with reporters outside of the Liberal caucus meeting in West Block on Wednesday, June 4, 2025 Photo by Bryan Passifiume / Toronto Sun OTTAWA — The Trump White House's doubling of steel and aluminum tariffs is unlawful, said Prime Minister Mark Carney, who's promising Canada will not remain silent. 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 Speaking to reporters Wednesday on his way into his party's weekly caucus meeting, Carney said America's latest salvo in their ongoing trade war is unwarranted and against. 'The latest tariffs on steel and aluminum are unjustified,' he added. 'They're illegal, they're bad for American workers, bad for American industry, and, of course, for Canadian industry, as well.' Despite rumours of an impending trade deal between the two neighbours, U.S. President Donald Trump doubled the 25% tariff on incoming steel and aluminum to 50% on Tuesday — more bad news for Canadian industry, already reeling from the fallout of the ongoing trade war. Recommended video Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne reaffirmed Canada's position to fight the tariffs. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Things change fast in the tariff world so we're all hands-on deck on that,' he told reporters, adding that Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc spent Tuesday in Washington, deep in meetings with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik. 'We're working hard and we're fighting against these tariffs, but also to protect our workers and our industry. The steel and aluminum industry is key to Canada's prosperity.' Carney said Canada currently has counter-tariffs amounting to over $90 billion on U.S. imports, and said Canada will respond. 'We are in intensive discussions right now with the Americans on the trading relationship,' Carney told reporters. 'Those discussions are progressing.' bpassifiume@ X: @bryanpassifiume Read More Toronto & GTA Toronto & GTA Celebrity Olympics Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto Sun
a day ago
- General
- Toronto Sun
1 dead, 5 others hospitalized after shooting near Yorkdale mall
Cops have yet to provide suspect info, but sources tell Toronto Sun 3 masked men opened fire at scene A Toronto Police cruiser. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk / Toronto Sun Police said one person is dead and five others suffered non-life-threatening injuries following a shooting in the Lawrence Heights neighbourhood Tuesday night that led to a massive police response involving multiple divisions. 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 Toronto Police originally said on social media that officers responded to the Flemington Rd.-Zachary Crt. area at 8:37 p.m. for reports of four people being shot. In an update, police said five people were hospitalized with gunshot wounds. Shooting:(UPDATE)-1 male confirmed deceased-5 people with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds transported to hospitalCOMMAND POST: Ranee Ave & Allen Rd (under the overpass)#GO1154114 ^av— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) June 4, 2025 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. Police later confirmed that one person — a male — was killed and five others were hospitalized. There were no details on any suspects; however, sources told the Toronto Sun that three masked men showed up at the scene and opened fire. Lawrence Heights is near Allen Rd. and Hwy. 401, just south of Yorkdale mall. Cops said a command post was being set up in the Allen-Ranee Ave. area. Disturbed by news of the shootings in the Lawrence Heights area this evening. My office is in contact with Toronto Police, who are on scene now and investigating, and the local councillor Deputy Mayor Mike Colle. I want to thank the first responders - Toronto Police, Fire and… — Mayor Olivia Chow 🇨🇦 (@MayorOliviaChow) June 4, 2025 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said in a post on X that she was 'disturbed by news of the shootings' and her office had been in contact with Toronto Police as well as Deputy Mayor Mike Colle, who represents Eglinton-Lawrence. 'I want to thank the first responders — Toronto Police, Fire and Paramedic services for your work on a very busy and challenging scene,' she said. 'Toronto Police are working to provide an update soon.' RECOMMENDED VIDEO Colle, who was interviewed at the scene by CP24, called the incident 'upsetting. 'It really is a Wild, Wild West scene here tonight,' Colle told CP24. — With files from Joe Warmington. Read More Crime Columnists Ontario Toronto & GTA Canada
