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Toronto’s music community demands moratorium on encampment clearings

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Feist, US Girls, Broken Social Scene, Alvvays and PUP among more than 360 Toronto-based musicians, sign statement

More than 360 Toronto-based musicians, including members of Feist, US Girls, Broken Social Scene and PUP, have signed a statement in support of unhoused people living in encampments around the city.

Addressed to members of Toronto City Council, including Mayor John Tory, Deputy Mayor Ana Bailão, the public statement calls for an immediate moratorium on encampment clearings in Toronto, and for the city not to confiscate survival equipment– including Tiny Shelters, foam domes, and tents– from people living outdoors.


The musicians make their statement of solidarity alongside the Encampment Support Network (ESN), which has been delivering aid to unhoused people in Toronto since July 2020. Along with an immediate moratorium on encampment evictions, the ESN is calling for 2,000 new shelter-hotel rooms to be opened in the next four months, and for the city to distribute survival supplies and fire safety equipment to encampments.

“The city’s message is that it isn’t ordering encampment clearings. If that’s true, why not call a moratorium?”

The musicians’ statement highlights the dilemma that unhoused people face as the temperature drops, saying the City of Toronto consistently fails to provide suitable shelter for all those who need it.

It comes two weeks after Tiny Homes carpenter Khaleel Sevright received a warning letter from the city, in which Janie Romoff, general manager of the city’s parks, forestry and recreation division, demanding that Sevright’s structures be removed from city property. “The City of Toronto therefore demands that you immediately cease the production, distribution, supply and installation of such shelters for the purposes of placement and use on city property,,” the letter reads. “Should you fail to do so, the city may, among other remedies, hold you responsible for the costs of removal of such structures.”

On December 3, the same day that Musicians Against Encampment Evictions issued a statement, the City released a statement saying encampments in parks and other public spaces pose a significant risk of fire and other hazards.

“Living outside is not safe. As of December 2, the City has identified 395 tents in 66 sites in parks across Toronto. This number includes wooden structures, tents and green pods. Encampments in parks and other public spaces pose a significant risk of fire and other hazards to those living in an encampment, as well as to emergency responders when called to a site,” the statement reads. “Open flames, generators and unsafe wiring, combined with the storage of gasoline, propane and other highly flammable substances makes living outside extremely dangerous.”

Also, City bylaws prohibit camping in parks, ravines, boulevards or on any right-of-way, including erecting structures. The City expressed its concerns about the safety of those experiencing homelessness, as well as the safety of all Toronto residents.

The city has said it no longer has plans to clear encampments— without notice. But at the moment the City hasn’t placed a moratorium on encampment clearings, as it did at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the musicians’ statement they say: “Throughout a global pandemic, the City of Toronto has refused unhoused people access to water, basic sanitation and survival gear, and instead has made life increasingly difficult for people living in encampments. We know that the city’s winter plan offers only 560 indoor spots for people living outside, yet over 1000 people are currently unhoused. The shelter system is at capacity, yet more people are being evicted from their housing every day.

“Now the city is asking some people to make an impossible choice: go inside and risk dying of COVID in an unsafe emergency shelter or stay outside and freeze to death. At the same time it forces people to make this choice, the city is confiscating the winter shelters the community has come together to provide to the encampments. 

“Clearing life saving shelters which provide warmth is not a solution. Tiny shelters and tents are people’s property. People depend on their social ties and community bonds to survive.”

“Mayor John Tory and Toronto city council have completely failed the unhoused population in Toronto, and now they’re threatening people with relocation away from their communities and services without any regard for their safety,” said Simone TB, drummer in the band Partner, and outreach volunteer with the Encampment Support Network– an ad-hoc group of volunteers who advocate for safe, stable, permanent housing options in the downtown core. “As a touring musician who was born, raised and has lived in Toronto my whole life, I have always spoken about my city with love and affection. Due to the city’s continued harassment and criminalization of my unhoused neighbours, I am no longer able to do this honestly. Shame on the City of Toronto, the mayor and our councillors.”

“2020 put the microscope on our lives, and now we see so clearly how the most marginalized in our communities are treated when something catastrophic and uncontrollable happens,” said Nathan Doucet, drummer in EDDY, Aquakultre, Scott Hardware, Tica Holiday and Heaven For Real, and volunteer with the Encampment Support Network. “As musicians and artists, we saw an opportunity to put our community engagement skills to work towards supporting unhoused folks. We see people’s disappointment when they’re told there’s no space for them indoors, so now we seek to provide some basic supplies for folks living outside because we know that the city isn’t going to do it. 

“With this statement, we are coming together to say that we require more from our mayor and city council,” said Doucet. “We stand against the wrongful eviction of anyone from their home: whether or not you agree with what they consider to be a home. Folks have been forced to live outside throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and now it’s winter. Many of us are receiving income support from the government– where is that support for houseless folks who would love to be inside this winter? Provide housing now.”

Meanwhile, Musicians Against Encampment Evictions are not the only ones making statements to the City as Hundreds of other artists, authors, artists, cartoonists, illustrators, booksellers, publishers and editors are also calling for a moratorium on all encampment evictions and the repeal of by-laws that make it illegal to camp. Healthcare providers, academics and researchers have also sent similar letters to the City.

It has been one big concerted effort as Right to Housing in Toronto also sent a letter urging “the City to provide safe, adequate housing for all encampment residents and, where that is not possible, safe and adequate shelter that respects the human rights and dignity of encampment residents.” Like the other statements they also are asking that, “the City must not forcibly evict encampment residents and instead ensure the safety of all residents in a way that respects their human rights and promotes the human right to housing by providing wintersurvival gear, water, sanitation and other necessary services. We also encourage the City to consult and work with encampment residents to find appropriate and permanent housing solutions for them.”

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