On Wednesday February 27, 2008, a homeless Aboriginal man was found frozen to death in a downtown stairwell.

The death of this man rests with City officials. Rather than claiming adequate services exist for homeless people, as City officials did just two weeks ago, the municipal government must take responsibility for this preventable death and ensure not one more such terrible loss occurs.

Just six days before the death, City of Toronto officials were warned that such a tragedy would occur, if the crisis facing homeless people was not immediately addressed. City councilors heard numerous urgent deputations from social service agencies and homeless people, warning that the huge cuts to services had forced people into a very dangerous situation.

"Not only do crowded hostels create violence and psychological damage, but many people will face the bracing cold of February and could sustain cold injuries and even perish," warned Gaetan Heroux of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty. Now, this dire warning has proven true.

This preventable tragedy echoes the freezing deaths of three men in the winter of 1996. Following these horrible events, City officials took limited steps and opened the Moss Park Armory for urgent shelter space.

Today, the City government is in the process of dismantling the hostel system in the downtown core. Before this winter even began, five shelters in the downtown core were shut down. The total number of hostel beds lost was 312. These shelters provided more than 340,000 meals and supplied
113,880 beds annually. Over the last decade the city has refused to address the serious over- crowding and lack of beds that exist in the shelter system.

We cannot bring this man back. But we can demand no further deaths occur. Surely the basic right to life, shelter and food cannot be denied by the City of Toronto. Once again, OCAP is demanding that City officials immediately provide essential emergency services for homeless people.

Over 50 people came out on very short notice in support of this man and the homeless people forced to stay out in freezing temperatures. OCAP made it clear today that when City Council refuses to listed when we address them nicely that we will do whatever it takes to get people the food and shelter need.

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CTV Report

OCAP interrupts council to protest shelter cuts

from toronto.ctv.ca

Poverty activists stormed city hall today, interrupting a council meeting to protest Toronto's services for the homeless.

Members of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty planned the protest after a homeless man was found dead in a downtown stairwell on Feb. 27, reportedly as a result of freezing temperatures.

About a dozen Toronto police officers were on hand and ushered the protesters out of council chambers.

In a news release issued by the organization Monday, OCAP said the city needs to address a shortage in Toronto shelters.

"Over the last decade the city has refused to address the serious over-crowding and lack of beds that exist in the shelter system," the statement said. "We cannot bring this man back. But we can demand no further deaths occur."

The week before the homeless man died, city officials heard deputations from social service agencies as well as homeless people, advocating for more financial support to services.

OCAP member Gaetan Heroux was quoted in Monday's news release saying people who stay in hostels face dangerous conditions.

"Not only do crowded hostels create violence and psychological damage, but many people will face the bracing cold of February and could sustain cold injuries and even perish," he said.

According to OCAP, the city recently closed down five shelters.

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OCAP HAS NO MONEY TO PAY ITS ORGANIZERS AND PHONE BILLS
News | Fundraising
Not for the first time, despite its very modest operating budget, OCAP faces a situation where it can't meet its basic operating costs. We have paid our rent for the month but can only pay Bell Canada by reducing the size of organizers' paycheques.

Yesterday, we organized a delegation to City Hall to confront the recent death of a homeless man in a downtown stairwell. A voice was raised to expose the shocking lack of emergency shelter that is putting lives at risk in the interests of upscale redevelopment. If you go to our website you can see part of a photo display that we are making up of the appalling conditions that public housing tenants face in Toronto Community Housing. We are mobilizing tenants to win repairs and making gains. A recent report by the City of Toronto on the Special Diet Supplement shows that $30 million a year is going to poor people on welfare since we took up the fight for this benefit. Prior to this, spending per year was a mere $2 million.

As Dalton McGuinty consolidates the work of Mike Harris and David Miller presides over an out of control cop budget and an upscale housing boom that puts Mel Lastman to shame, OCAP continues to mobilize communities under attack and to fight back against poverty.

We can do our work with very little but not with nothing. Please help to give us that little bit of help we need to keep things going. Any and all donations are greatly appreciated but sustaining support is especially helpful to us. To become a sustainer, mail us a voided cheque with a note saying how much you would like to give each month and we can set up an automatic transfer from your bank account to ours.

For every dollar you give, we've put $600 into the pockets of poor people.

Please mail your cheque to:

OCAP,
10 Britain Street,
Toronto, ON
M5A 1R6