City clears encampment from Toronto park after residents demanded permanent housing

A homeless encampment in Toronto's west end was cleared Friday morning after a small group of remaining residents said they wouldn't leave until they got permanent housing.

A homeless encampment in Toronto’s west end was cleared by the city Friday morning after a small group of remaining residents said they wouldn’t leave until they got permanent housing.

City vehicles were seen removing tents and people’s belongings from Dufferin Grove Park, with city security and police officers on scene. The encampment area was surrounded by caution tape as city staff erected a fence around it.

Tensions had been high between encampment residents and municipal staff over the past couple of weeks after the city issued trespass notices as it stepped up pressure to clear the park.

Mark Anthony Lindsay, one of about seven remaining encampment residents, said members of the group began negotiating with the city on Sept. 12, when it said tent removal would start. That culminated in city officials telling the remaining residents to leave with their belongings on Friday or have their things taken away, he said.

“They said, ‘You have 15 minutes.’ This was not a dispute. This was not a question,” said Lindsay, who noted that officials didn’t use force.

“This was law. And because I am a person that has no legal rights, I complied,” he said. “We’re all human. Let’s act this way. This is not human.”

Lindsay said the city offered him a hotel room, but the only available one was in north Etobicoke, far from downtown Toronto.

“This is how we solve problems. We shift it someplace else,” said Lindsay. “That’s why we continually have problems. We don’t solve them, we pass it on to somebody else.”