- [Zach] I'm gonna record now.
- [Taka] Okay.
- [Zach] Okay.
Because?
- [Zach] Okay.
- [Zach] Do you remember
just like meeting me and when that all happened?
(car revving)
- Yeah, we dropped another shelter off yesterday.
(garage door whirring)
But did get a complaint from the neighbors.
So now we can't have the garage open while we're building.
So everyone has to be. (laughs)
So it's gonna be, yeah, a little tight.
(plastic crumpling)
(loud thudding)
Oh, man, I just smacked my head.
(mellow music)
(rapid thumping)
(saw whirring)
(rapid thumping)
(drill whirring)
(saw whirring)
(mellow music)
(loud clicking)
- [Radio Announcer 1] Well, the pandemic has had an impact
on all Canadians,
but it's hit those on a low income especially hard.
There's now a growing concern
that the number of homeless people in Canada may go up.
- [Radio Announcer 2] Visible encampments now,
number more than a hundred in Toronto
because of the pandemic and there are worries they'll grow.
- [Radio Announcer 3] The city of Toronto tells us
they are currently providing shelter
to more than 7,500 people each night.
But according to the latest city data,
many of these shelters are at over 99% capacity,
including warming centers.
- [Radio Interviewee] I had to turn away 12 women
into the cold because there was nothing left in the system.
No violence against women's spaces,
no homeless shelter spaces.
All I could do was give them a blanket
and ask them to stay somewhere close by.
- [Khaleel] Yeah. Waiting for the cops
to show up and be like, what the fuck are you doing?
Yeah, that's my worst concern every time I come through.
Every single time.
(loud sighing)
(melancholic music)
- [Khaleel] Can you push it over the hump?
Woo.
Okay.
Oh.
I think one of the wheels isn't gonna turn.
- [Zach] Do you remember the first night?
- [Taka] Yep.
(melancholic music)
(saw whirring)
(upbeat jazz music)
(loud thumping)
- [Khaleel] I'm tired.
(Khaleel laughs)
- Oh, shit, dude, I saw you on CBC.
We were gonna like, try and reach out to you
about the tiny houses.
- That's really cool.
- [Neighbor] That's awesome, man.
- Fuck yeah.
- Oh my God. - Yeah.
Very cool. - There's a GoFundMe page.
- Yeah. Okay, cool.
- [Tony] So he's gonna be over here for a little bit.
- Are you building here?
- [Khaleel] Yeah. Yeah.
- Are you kidding me?
- That's amazing, dude.
Yes, Tony.
(Khaleel laughs)
Tony's a great landlord
and I know he'll treat you guys really well
because this is important. - That's awesome.
- Our city is in crisis right now
with the amount of homelessness.
- But we got lots of, lots of places they can stay though.
They just don't want to.
- Yeah. Some people don't want to--
- Yeah. But there's also a pandemic happening
and those like, the services aren't, you know?
- Yeah. - If you looked inside
one of those homeless shelters,
they're tough. - Not the homeless shelters.
They wanna give them hotels, actual hotels, spares,
spare rooms and everything else.
- That's great.
- There's certain conditions with it as well.
- [Tony] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'm sure there is.
(foreboding music)
- [Zach] Talk more about it, will you?
(saw whirring)
(phone dinging)
- Partnership discussion.
"I work at the city of Toronto
and I have been following your progress and story
since October 2nd.
And I'm very happy to hear that outpouring of support
for people living outside. You're inspiring a lot of people.
I'd like to have a meeting with you,
be able to discuss the possibility of a partnership.
The city has some problems
and you're obviously very innovative.
Just gaging your interest in such a meeting,
hoping that we can have a discussion."
That's so interesting. That is interesting.
"Please let me know if you are interested.
My availability is variable,
so if you can send me a few dates and times
that work for you, if you're interested,
of course, then I can try to make something work."
We're City Toronto first response. (laughs)
It's like, let's work together.
That's interesting. I feel so much less stressed.
Wow.
- [Companion 1] I mean,
it seems good that they're reaching out.
- For the first time.
- [Companion 1] Like, it means that they're
really paying attention, I guess.
- Yeah.
And like, I like that he says like,
"On behalf of the City of Toronto."
It's like they're speaking as the city of Toronto.
It's like, this is our response.
It's like, "Okay, we wanna work with you."
It's like, that is fucking cool.
(keys jiggling)
- [Zach] Where are you gonna be?
Where is it okay for me to be?
- I'm gonna be right here.
It's 4:15.
Enter the meeting password.
Oh my God.
Okay.
- [Operator] Okay. One quick second.
I'm gonna merge you in. Okay?
- Oh, okay.
- [Community Manager] You know, Zach,
I guess is doing a documentary
or something and he wanted to film the conversation today.
And so, you know,
in terms of port and from the city perspective,
we have to go through approvals for those kind of things.
So we don't have approval to do that.
And so like they,
you know, just to make sure, like,
can you confirm that it's just the three of us.
Is there anyone else there are on the call on your end?
- No, it's just me.
- [Program Manager] You know, in terms of like,
you know, camping in parks and on right of way passages.
There's a city by-law that doesn't allow for that.
That includes, you know,
tents, but as well as like the structures,
you know, that you've built.
Do you have a name for them, by the way?
- I guess I've been calling them tiny shelters.
- [Program Manager] You know, hats off.
I'm really, really impressed with what you have done,
just personally and professionally to be some,
you know, a humble guy that grew up in Scarborough,
did some construction,
knows how to do something and put it into play.
I'm really, really impressed
and I think that your heart's definitely in the right place.
- If it's like -10, -15,
like, you're gonna want a consistent heat source
unless you're going to be somewhere that's warm.
And I guess, the shelters that I'm building,
these are designed to be heated by your body.
It's like,
they will have somewhere that's consistently warm.
- [Program Manager] This is, you know, like I said,
the first of hopefully many conversations where we can try
to figure out where this partnership lies,
if there is a partnership.
And I really hope that there is
because I think that what you're doing is really cool
and innovative and I think that we need
that kind of innovation.
- Ah.
- [Zach] What do you think?
- I was surprised by how long winded they were.
I thought they'd be more concise.
- Okay. - A little more.
(phone dinging)
(melancholic piano music)
The City of Toronto therefore demands
that you immediately cease the production, distribution,
supply and installation of such shelters on city property.
- [CBC Journalist] The city didn't respond to requests
for comment from CBC News.
Its letter did say, "If the shelters remain
on public property, legal action could be taken."
- You know,
what happened when someone gets into a shelter
and then they get evicted for violating
whatever restrictions and then,
they leave the shelter and they don't have anything.
Like, all of their stuff is gone.
Like, what actually happens to those people?
It's been surprise,
considering they sent me an earlier email,
discussing a partnership,
but I understand that there's quite a bit of disconnection
between different departments in the City of Toronto.
- I've always opposed this kind of structure or solution
and in the last month,
I've done a complete 360
because I really feel that city is failing drastically
and that this is a lifesaving measure.
- Lastly, I just wanna ask why you're doing this?
- [Maisonneuve Journalist] You mentioned how, you know,
part of the reason why you do what you do
or at least feel motivated to do that is
because you've experienced homelessness
to a certain degree yourself.
And I was wondering
if you would be comfortable talking more about that.
- I stayed in this tent for five months
during the winter of Vancouver.
In Vancouver and,
yeah, it was interesting.
It was just something I never did before
and
it was just surprising,
the challenges that sort of came up
that I didn't really anticipate and just, yeah, living,
just finding a way to live and still work and save money.
I figured I'd be able to do it
in a fashion that I was comfortable enough to do.
But it was one of the most challenging things I've ever did,
I've ever done.
(melancholic music)
(wheels rattling)
(Khaleel grunts)
(cart rattling)
- [Inquirer] Sorry, I was just at my friend's today
'cause it's kind of going crazy there.
- Yeah. It's pretty shitty though.
- [Inquirer] Yeah. So I was talking to my friend
between the two of us and he was kind of saying
with Christie Pitts is
not a, like the city might get mad at us there especially.
- Yeah.
- [Inquirer] So what were you thinking would be
probably the safest spot?
- Well,
in terms of safety, I mean,
if you don't want to be around a bunch of people,
I think Allan Garden. - Yeah.
I'm a really quiet guy.
- Okay.
I think Allen Gardens would be a good spot.
- [Inquirer] I just came in from Barrie.
I actually lost my place due to COVID
because there's been no work back out there.
- Okay.
- [Inquirer] Yeah. So I'm trying
to look here on Google Maps.
Is that near Bloor at all?
(melancholic music)
- [News Announcer] The city is under
an extreme cold weather alert.
So this cold air really taking over here in southern Ontario
and it's going to stick around for a while.
Let's take a look at the satellite radar.
Current temperatures across Southern Ontario.
My goodness, we are sitting in those minus double digits
and we are going to stay there,
not just for the next couple of days but really. (mumbles)
(melancholic music)
(car whirring)
- Is it here. - Mh-hmm.
- It is down this little path.
I literally carried all the sheets of plywood,
everything and just all the 2x6.
I was just walking like this and then the generator,
all the tools, everything.
This is the very first one I built.
Yeah, they put a notice on it.
So this is how we communicate.
This is how we communicate now.
Trespass notice
under the. (mumbles)
So do camp large, no prison to place in store.
Attach this is the law. (mumbles)
This is the law.
Activities,
enforcement may include removal
or disposal.
These guys aren't enforcing shit.
These are the handles I've been putting in.
Hello?
Yeah, someone's been using it.
That's amazing.
That's fucking cool.
And they've been painting.
I'm happy about that.
There's no latch or lock or anything on it.
It could be coming back.
Cool. (laughs)
Good news.
There. You guys wanna go?
- [Zach] So where you built the shop?
- This is where I built it.
Someone is using this.
That's so nice.
- [Radio News Announcer] Let's move on to a story about
a man that we had on the show at 4:45 this afternoon.
He's a carpenter. His name's Khaleel Seivwright
and he's the guy who built some Toronto Tiny Shelters.
These are places for people with no housing
to be comfortable during the cold weather.
He's built some in city parks.
He's done a GoFundMe for this.
It's been overwhelming, the support that he's got.
He was on the show today
and he said that he heard from the city twice.
The first time he heard from the city was saying,
"What a great idea,
maybe we can do some type of partnership."
And then he said the second correspondence that he got,
in the form of an email was telling him,
you know, to basically cease and desist. And if he didn't,
he'd be then charged with the cost for tearing down
these structures. I'm wondering if this story came across
your desk and what your thoughts were.
- [Mayor Tory] Yes, and look,
we are seized of the homelessness issue.
We've already been successful at moving 1100 people
out of encampments,
which I think most people find to be not a safe
or a proper answer into permanent housing
or alternative housing.
There's about 400 people left in encampments
and what is proposed here is to build these structures,
which the fire department, not me and not the activists.
I mean, if I had a choice between advocates
as much as I respect the role they play
and the fire department in telling us
what's safe and what isn't.
They say these structures are made
out of very unsafe material. It's very flammable.
The second thing that has that is clear is
they're not going to be ideal
from the standpoint of other kinds of safety
and sanitation issues
because they're little, you know, little structures that,
and then the third issue is whether or not
it is going to be just deemed acceptable
for us to be having those put up in parks
where people choose to put those kinds of things up.
(Khaleel laughs)
- [Khaleel] That's funny, yeah.
- [Zach] And then you can put this
in your pocket if you want.
- [Interviewee] Okay.
- [Zach] Okay.
Alright.
- [Khaleel] So how is staying in the tiny shelter made
a difference for you?
- It's warmer.
Yes. It's like a,
just fair, it's like I felt the floor is better
than the tent.
You know, the feeling is just,
the whole feeling is better than I thought, you know.
At the beginning I thought maybe we,
it's no fresh air or something,
but actually, it's quite good.
(Dorothy and Khaleel laughs)
- When I first got here,
I used to wake up shivering in the middle of the night.
Every few hours I have to go around and walk for like,
however long until I got my body heat back up
just to fall asleep again, wake up cold again.
I have not had a single night shivering in this house.
Every night,
I sleep like a baby and ever since,
so I have problems with
psychosis and things like that when I stop sleeping
and when I'm under immense amounts of stress
and all the rest of it. And when I have this place,
all my stress started to go down.
I've been getting back into a routine.
I've been sleeping solid hours every single night,
going to bed, waking up and I just feel more healthy,
more like, I just can actually have a life
and a routine and not always having to be,
feel like I have to fight for my life.
- Like I haven't always lived homeless
so I know what it's like to own property and stuff
and it's a lot of work.
There's people think like the people
that have got all this money and whatnot,
their big houses and they don't do nothing like,
but really, it's a lot of work to take care of that stuff.
And like even though it's a small version of that,
it's my small version of it
and I feel the same way about it, you know,
so I like, find myself like cleaning up the yard and like,
just making little improvements here and there
and decorating and you know,
and just makes you feel more normal,
more of a normal person. Normalizes things and just, yeah,
it's just, I don't know.
It feels good.
- This is all I own.
This is all I have but this is my home
and I'm in a great country that I love
and I've been under the circumstances of COVID and pandemic.
This is my shelter box,
this is where I am and this is what I have and this is good.
It's the best thing that has ever happened
because it's safe against all the elements,
even the physical elements.
Yeah.
The nasty people.
Want to come and bang your door in the middle of the night
and rip your tent.
This one,
if they hit it, they can hit it as hard as they like.
But I'm okay in there.
Just zip my mouth and I'll be up in the morning.
(melancholic music)
- [Zach] What are the comments like
on the testimonials video?
- Oh, just lots of weird shit.
Just lots of yuppie shit. I don't know.
- [Zach] Like what?
- This is gonna bring down the value of my house. (laughs)
Like, all these homeless people living across the street.
- [Zach] Really?
They're saying that? - Yeah.
You know and it's just like so interesting.
I like seeing the negative comments more than anything
because it's just so interesting.
It's like, yeah, that's your biggest concern.
It is.
And it is and it's like they're just being honest
and it's like, that's reasonable,
that that is your biggest concern.
You know, it's like what a lovely person.
- [Zach] Do you want to just
tell us where you live and.
- I live right beside Alexandra Park at Bathurst, Dundas,
and I've been resident there since November 2019.
- [Zach] Are there any specific moments
that stick out for you?
- [Valentina] There are a lot.
First one would be,
it was one in the morning I was trying to fall asleep
and there was a bunch of partying and music playing
and then I thought,
"Oh my god they're now doing fireworks, really?"
I look out of the window and a whole tent was on fire
and there were things inside the tent that were exploding.
(loud explosions)
- [News Announcer] Bright flames beside a condo complex
near Dundas West in Bathurst.
A tent in the homeless encampment
at Alexandra Park was on fire.
- After that, the owners and residents at the complex,
we all just started to report fires
or anything close to a fire
'cause we were just all freaked out.
It was a rude awakening for me, just to realize
that we're not safe at all.
Like, we're not safe at all.
(melancholic music)
- They removed one.
- [Zach] Yeah.
- Do you know where from?
- [Zach] Yeah.
- Where? - Victoria Park.
- They took it.
Shit.
And they're just taking into a fucking landfill.
These people are so useless.
- [Michael] 30 seconds.
- We're good. We're good. - Okay.
- So good morning everyone.
I'd like to call this meeting to order.
My name is Michael Thompson,
councilor and I am the chair of
the Economic and Community Development Committee.
I'd like to welcome all the members of committee
and also members of the public.
We currently have for this meeting today,
in excess of 70 speakers on items.
I will keep the speakers list open, Madam Clerk,
on until about 10:30 and we will close it off
at that particular-- - That's hectic.
This is gonna be so long.
- [Clerk] Attend is amendment
to the blanket contract number, 47022687,
issued to Mr. Chemical Limited
for the provision of housekeeping and laundry chemicals
to long-term care holds.
- I ask that city council step in
and direct Parks and Recreation.
- [Meeting Attendant] All right folks,
we're gonna get started very shortly. So--
- Let's go. Let's go.
(mellow piano music)
- Next item is EC18.4,
COVID-19 response and accessibility,
parks, forestry and recreation programs.
Our next speaker is Khaleel Seivwright.
You have five minutes.
- Thank you. - Welcome.
Hey, my name's Khaleel Seivwright.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak here
at this meeting.
On November 19th,
I received a letter from Parks and Recreation manager,
Janie Romoff, threatening the removal of tiny shelters
that are currently being used by people living in parks.
And I ask
that the city council step in
and direct Parks and Recreation to support this initiative
and help me make Toronto's parks accessible
for all people living in our city.
The most immediate and direct way, I think,
city council can support this initiative is
by issuing a moratorium
on Municipal By-law Chapter 608, Section 13 and 14.
Again,
I think there is a lack of awareness about the safety,
design and functionality of these shelters.
So I'll take a moment to reiterate and also talk about them.
I'd like to mention as well
that there has been a document made public
for my deputation showing 49,000 people have signed
a petition agreeing that there should be
a moratorium on the same bylaws
for the safety of those living in encampments. Thank you.
- Let me see whether or not there are any questions of you.
I see none.
- I was like, still swallowing food.
- I'll start off with fire.
Is he Deputy Chief Jessop?
There was a conversation this morning,
particularly as it related to a gentleman that was here,
Khaleel Seivwright,
who talked about the small tiny units
that he's building 'cause he sees a need.
I'm just wondering whether or not fire has had
an opportunity to maybe take a look at those units
and if so,
what exactly is the thought consideration of fire
with respect to these units? Are they fire safe?
- [Deputy Jim] Through the chair.
You can hear me, Deputy Mayor?
- I can hear you. Deputy Jessop. Yes.
- [Deputy Jim] Great. Thank you.
So through the chair fire's position,
especially after the year
we have had with the number of encampment fires,
is that these, these structures
that are being constructed are not safe
and they're not designed for people
to live in them in the outside.
- What the fuck? Who did a fire safety inspection?
Not you, bro.
Who did it?
What are the results of your imaginary safety inspection?
Oh, that's so interesting 'cause I wasn't there.
Who was there? Who participated?
- I take great comfort in hearing
from a Deputy Chief Jessop around the, you know,
the small portable type of shelter
that Mr. Seivwright spoke about today and indicated that it,
you know, met all the standards.
It doesn't and I don't want people to die from fire.
Any other problems-- - Word!
I'm so excited I get to speak again.
- [Michael] Staff report that's in front of us
and conclude my remarks
'cause I've now approached the five minutes.
Moving on.
- [Michael] We are now moving members to EC18.8
that is the Toronto Rent Bank
and eviction prevention in the community.
And we have
a number of speakers-- - One speaker.
- [Michael] On this item.
- Oh.
- [Michael] Our first speaker is Khaleel Seivwright.
Mr. Seivwright, are you there?
- [Khaleel] Yep.
- You're there. Thank you very much.
You may proceed, sir.
- Okay. I guess I would like to start by saying,
the question Michael Thompson made for Jim Jessop
about the tiny shelter, which he avoided answering.
He made a point of.
- [Michael] Mr. Seivwright.
- Yes? - I wonder
if you could speak to the issue that we're dealing with.
It's the Toronto Rent Bank and if an eviction prevention
in the community.
That's the issue that we're dealing with at this moment.
Sir, you have had the opportunity to express your opinion
on the units that you built on the previous issue.
What's in front of us is eviction.
If you could speak to that, that would be very helpful, sir.
Thank you. - I'll continue to speak
to that because this is extremely relevant,
considering how many people are being evicted right now.
But I think it's also very relevant,
considering these people will be possibly living
in these tiny shelters that, you know,
there was not a fire safety inspection done
on these shelters by Jim Jessop or anyone
from the fire department.
And for you to say that they are definitely not safe is
a complete lie. That's an inaccurate statement.
So I would like a fire safety inspection to be done
and for you to see the results of this inspection.
You know, on a side note,
to however many people are going to be winding up homeless
this winter.
The people I'm providing that shelter for,
they have never experienced homelessness
in their life before.
You know how upsetting that is?
To be giving someone a box to live in
that has never experienced homelessness ever in their life.
That sucks.
I guess that's all I have to say.
If there's any questions,
I'm very open to be answering them. Thank you.
- [Michael] Thank you very much, sir.
Let me check to see if there are any questions of you.
Looking to see
if there are any visiting members of committee.
I've seen none. Looking at members of committee.
There are no questions of you, sir. Thank you very much.
Okay, our next
speaker is Annie Hodgkins,
center for Equality Rights in accommodation.
( drill whirring)
- [News Announcer] A homeless man froze to death
over the weekend.
His body was found in the plateau in a public toilet,
not far from the open door.
A drop-in center where he'd been earlier Saturday night.
Staff at the shelter say he should not have had to die.
Angela Mackenzie reports.
(drill whirring)
- I don't know,
just weird, like my mom's calling me
and she keeps telling me to stop doing what I'm doing.
- [Zach] Why?
- Because she's fucking worried.
What the fuck is this?
Yeah, she's really stressed out.
- [Zach] What did she say?
- She sent me a text.
I haven't even answered her phone calls.
- [Zach] What did the text say?
- You know, Khaleel, you should stop.
You know, you did your best.
Like, you should just stop because you're gonna get fucked.
She didn't say it like that, but that's like what she meant.
There's some other vibe going on, I think.
Like, in city council
and just with them saying like,
declaring that these are fire hazards
without having any sort of inspection done,
it's like there's something else going on
that's really bothering me. I don't know what it is.
It's like, it's not about like, the shelters,
it's not about the danger of them.
It's like, something else.
It's like, there's a weird thing.
It's almost like about maintaining authority or something.
I feel like that's a bigger issue for them.
(sudden torch blasting)
(torch whooshing)
- I like seeing the pages burn after page after page.
- [Companion 1] Oh, dude, it was so cool.
Like, it just flips the next page.
Flip the next page. - Yeah.
Dude. - Can you do a second thing?
- Yo.
You can touch it.
It's amazing.
Yeah.
It does not burn.
The shelter is fine. It's fucking great.
(upbeat piano music)
- Come on.
I've been building these things.
- Yeah. - And giving them to people
and I'm just trying to find out
an actual firefighter's opinion about them.
There's a smoke seal detector. - Oh, yeah.
- And everyone as well. Yeah. - Yeah.
Well, couldn't regulate it.
- [Khaleel] Of course.
- [Crew Member 1] You have to consult
our fire prevention office.
- [Khaleel] For sure.
Well, I mean, in terms of like.
- [Crew Member 1] They're allowing tents in that by them.
Are they allowing like, structures.
- [Khaleel] Yeah.
Well, like compared to a tent,
like, do you think this is a better option?
- [Crew Member 1] You get burned as fast in a tent.
Tent catches it and it just.
- [Crew Member 2] Yeah.
- [Khaleel] Yeah.
- [Crew Member 1] Definitely shelters from the elements
a lot better.
- Oh. Yeah. - Yeah.
- [Crew Member 1] It would be an awesome fishing hut.
Yeah.
I can give you a phone number you can call.
- [Khaleel] Yeah.
That'd be amazing.
- [Crew Member 1] Just gimme a minute.
- [Voicemail] This is the voicemail of
Toronto Fire Services.
I am in the office today,
but unable to take your call at the moment.
So if you'd like to leave a message,
please do so after the tone. Thank you. (beeps)
- [Khaleel] Hey, my name's Khaleel Seivwright.
I got your number from a fire chief
at the Dufferin Fire Station, Dufferin, DuPont.
And I was hoping to have a conversation with you.
(saw whirring)
(phone ringing)
- Hello, Khaleel.
This is... Toronto Fire.
- Oh, hey.
I guess I'm just interested in getting your honest opinion
about the shelters.
- Well, you know, we're not a fan.
I mean, let me just back up.
We're not a fan of this whole situation.
- Yeah.
- A path to stable housing is everybody's goal here.
- I've actually,
I've written up a letter that I've been trying
to get to John Tory. It's a negotiation letter.
And I guess, my very specific idea is
that I'm aware that the city is getting more housing on line
for people and that there's going to be
more spaces for people to go to in the next month,
in the next few months, next few weeks.
And that, okay,
I've built these shelters for people
that are outside currently,
but I understand that they would like to be inside,
like, no one wants to be living in a tiny box.
- That's right.
- So, and that's like, I'm fully aware of this,
but there's many people that are outside
that would like to be in housing.
And I guess, in my negotiation letter,
I'm talking about what if this could be an interim
for people as they're getting into housing
and then I can move the shelters
and then, eventually remove them from all city property
when the weather is warm enough.
- Yeah. I don't know, Khaleel.
'Cause as I said,
that's a better discussion to have with Dan Rowe.
I'm only looking at it from a fire safety standpoint.
- I guess.
- You know, if we gotta classify it as you,
what do we classify it as? Is it box?
Is it buildings, this, you know,
it doesn't really fit the molds of
any sort of recognized standard.
Do you know what standard is it built to?
- Well, I mean, it's very,
it's interesting because there's--
- It's a box.
- There's actually a few examples of different cities
around the world building extremely similar structures
for people that are stuck outside.
And they're working with governments to do this
and it's, yeah, it's something
that's endorsed by their government to protect people.
- Yeah, I know.
I mean, and it sounds okay until it's not.
We want to get these folks into shelters, into hotel rooms.
We wanna get them on a path to sustainable housing.
- I guess I'll still send you over the blueprints
just to get your honest opinion about them.
(upbeat music)
I like some of Nietzsche's thoughts about like,
people are soldiers, they'll fight consistently,
they'll show up, they'll do their job, and leave.
But warriors,
they can't take a break.
The soldier can go on vacation, but the warrior,
the only peace they have is victory.
I love that.
They're just relentlessly pushing something forward.
(upbeat music)
(plastic rustling)
(rapid thumping)
(saw whirring)
(upbeat music)
- [Friend 1] Can you push it?
- [Friend 2] Oh, yeah.
- Okay. This next story actually comes from Toronto.
A carpenter named, Khaleel Seivwright,
is building insulated shelters
for homeless people in the community.
This is the kind of stuff I need to hear.
(upbeat music)
- A drill and a hammer.
Let's meet the carpenter
from Canada crafting multiple shelters.
(woman speaking in foreign language)
- [News Announcer 1] One Toronto carpenter
who is receiving praise.
- [News Announcer 1] Of those who have used them,
call it a saving grace.
- [Woman] I'm so impressed by what you're doing.
It's actually incredible. You are such a hero.
- That's cool.
(upbeat music)
(saw whirring)
(upbeat music)
Oh.
I have to get a beer.
(melancholic music)
- [Chief Jessop] Okay, so good morning everyone,
and thank you for coming.
Early this morning, just around 6AM,
Toronto fire service responded to the report of a fire,
a very visible fire at this location.
Upon our arrival,
our crews were met with a fully involved structure fire,
what can best be described as a tiny wooden structure.
The fire was quickly extinguished.
Unfortunately, once the fire was extinguished,
our crews conducted their search inside
and noted one deceased person with obvious signs of death.
- And these particular structures, where did they come from?
- I'm not sure, to be honest.
Again, it would be inappropriate for me to guess
how they've arrived at in, you know, in this city park.
That will probably form part of the investigation,
but I have no idea.
- Did they tell you anything more about what happened?
- [Outreach Worker] He had a heater in the unit
and from what I hear from one of his friends,
and again, I'm just assuming,
but I don't really know for sure,
that it was a gas heater.
- Okay.
And then, it just lit on fire.
- [Outreach Worker] Yeah. Like, I think it started
from the inside.
And I don't know,
he could have very well been,
you know,
he could have actually been on a head nod
or overdosed and maybe that's why he didn't wake up.
- Yeah.
- [Outreach Worker] But I do appreciate the work
that you're doing.
There would've been lots of worse outcomes
in this had you not been providing shelters for people.
(phone dinging)
Yeah.
And then, this is what they're hitting me with.
"The applicant, which is the City of Toronto,
makes application for an order,
permanently restraining the respondent, Khaleel,
from placing and the relocating structures
on city owned land or otherwise,
creating a nuisance or interfering with the city's rights
as owner and occupier of its land."
Fantastic.
Yep.
- [Zach] Okay.
(foreboding music)
- [Samara] The first option is just
like a quiet negotiation.
It doesn't have to be quiet, but it could be a negotiation.
Like, everyone sort of says,
"Hold on, before we go to court,
before everyone expands all these resources,
let's talk about what your goals are, city.
And let's talk about what Khaleel's goals are." Okay?
The second option is to just say, "Okay, bring it.
We're going to court."
And because, like,
I think you might have some kind of legal argument on the,
like, waste dumping ones.
I think what you would have to do for the encroachment one
is constitutionally challenge it.
So basically, the point is, enforcing the by-law,
forcing people out of these encampments
or forcing me to stop building these,
puts people's lives at risk
because of the failure of the shelter system.
(melancholic music)
- Hi, are you here to serve Tory?
- Yeah. So we're here at John Tory's condo,
trying to contest the injunction
that he has served to Khaleel Seivwright.
And we're trying to get him to stop the injunction,
repeal the bylaws that criminalize people
who are living in parks
and create more affordable RGI housing.
- Yeah. Tiny house's well structured.
You don't need no heat, you don't need no nothing in there.
As long as they go inside and close the door, you're good.
- [Zach] Have you had a couple or you have one?
- I have one,
but I'm the first person that get it.
I was the first one that get that. That get it.
Yeah. When it burned down is people careless,
like go in there,
do whatever they doing and get high,
fall asleep and something wrong.
But otherwise from that, it's good.
- [Zach] Did you have any problems with yours?
- I have no problems whatsoever. Yeah.
- [Zach] Do you have anything else
that you want to say?
- I hope whatever, you know, I hope the city can see
what people are fighting for and common people
because there's a lot of people in the street
that need places and we want the same thing. Like what?
The mayor have his own key.
That's what everybody's looking for.
A place where they can call their home.
It doesn't matter, you know,
a home is still a home, you know.
- [TV Character] Open the goddamn door.
- Hey. - Just a.
It's just a very nice take.
- It's really bright in here
when the light's coming.
- [Zach] When it's all coming through.
It's a really nice day.
- Yeah.
- [Zach] It's cold, but it's nice.
(melancholic music)
- These encampments are not safe.
They're not healthy and they do not belong in public parks.
They're not to be in public parks,
but we're not just clearing them out.
We are preceding that by extensive work that is going on
right now to talk to each and every one of those individuals
and find them better housing.
(indistinct phone call)
- [Woman] Hi, there.
I just phoned about a friend of mine
who's been living at Scadding Court.
He's trying to get into a shelter hotel.
- [Shelter Coordinator] If he's looking for an indoor space,
he's gonna need to contact central intake.
I don't have access to any hotel spaces.
- [Woman] We're told repeatedly over and over again
by streets to homes who come in here
that they can call any time, residents,
to get into shelter hotels.
They're evicting people from the parks
and encouraging them to go to shelter hotels.
- [Shelter Coordinator] Yes. I am aware of that.
The referrals by the encampment teams,
the indoor spaces for eligible folks
who meet the requirements happen on Monday to Friday.
- [Woman] Right. But I mean,
the prerogative of the city right now in streets to homes is
to get people into shelter hotels or indoors
out of the parks. Right?
And I'm like, literally sitting with a man right now
who's asking for help getting
into one of your shelter hotels.
And you're saying there's nothing you can do.
- [Shelter Coordinator] No,
the hotel programs that streets to homes refers
to do not accept referrals on the weekends.
- [Woman] Okay. Okay.
So this guy's just gonna be stuck outside tonight.
Right?
- [Shelter Coordinator] Again, my suggestion is
that he's going to need to call central intake
and if something is available, they will let him know.
- [Woman] Yeah. We tried that
and they said there's nothing available.
- [Shelter Coordinator] At this time,
but that will likely change in the future.
(mellow piano music)
- [Samara] If you don't wanna constitutionally challenge it
'cause you're just not interested.
That's a different story.
- I mean, that's also true.
I guess I want to get back to living my life
and I guess it's interesting.
Like, I don't,
I'm not someone that considers myself an activist,
you know,
and in any way, it's like leading up
to building these shelters.
It's just simply something that I saw that I could do
that made sense. And so I did it and yeah,
I guess I'm not someone that would like,
regularly go out of my way to be involved
in things like these.
I guess, like,
that's the kind of person I actually am.
- [Samara] Okay.
Okay. That's totally fair.
And we just wanted to talk to you about
where your head was at and.
(trash rattling)
(continuous thudding)
- Good morning. I would like to call this meeting to order.
Please join me for the national anthem.
- My motion is rather short,
that city council adopt a goal of zero encampments.
I've heard from many constituents of mine
that have a lot of concerns
over the mass encampments in parks.
And I think people see that as not being fair,
but others seem to somehow either not have to follow
the rules or they gained some sort of a benefit
by having access to public land for their own.
- Councilor Holidays.
Aspirational statements would find, I think,
broad support in the public to end these encampments.
I don't think that we should be making it easier
for the people in these encampments
to sustain and live longer in these encampments.
We should be encouraging them to leave.
(helicopter whirring)
I will lead the city administration
in doing groundbreaking work on supportive housing
and supports for people who are experiencing homelessness.
I do not believe failing to act on encampments,
indefinitely represents any kind of compassionate approach
for those who are experiencing homelessness.
Nor is it fair and considerate to all of the other people
who want to have the opportunity to use those parks.
Including some summer activities.
We've just announced summer camps and other kinds of things.
- I asked Councilor Holiday specifically,
does your motion be ending homelessness? And he said, "No."
So I can't support that approach.
I don't support a golden day
when suddenly, the homeless disappear.
Where we have them,
but they're not sleeping out of doors.
- Five seconds. - It's a false choice
and I can't vote for it.
- [Clerk] Motion five by Councilor Holiday, recorded vote.
- [Announcer] Motion five carries. The vote is 18 to 7.
(melancholic music)
(truck revving)
(metal clanking)
- [Ginger] That's so concerning
that they're not gonna let people in to help.
- [Zach] So they're gonna put a fence around each?
- They're gonna erect a fence
and it's gonna have like, many exits,
but they're not gonna be letting advocates
or support or people in that don't live here.
So they've given people two hours to like,
accept an offer and get their shit packed up.
And then, I guess whatever they can't take,
the city will deal with.
It's not gonna work.
This is not gonna be good.
- I just told you. Did you hear me?
I cannot,
for health and safety reasons,
go into the options that you offered.
- [Security] Okay.
- Do you understand that?
- There may be other options open as well?
- Yes. I'm working with a housing worker.
- Okay. - I have been working
with a housing worker for months.
It's taking a long time to process the subsidy application
to get permanent housing. - Okay.
So that could still carry on.
As well. - It should carry on.
And I should just wait here
until I can move into permanent housing.
- [Ginger] When people don't leave, which, you know,
they're not going to, what's the next step?
- I don't know. I have no idea.
I'll be honest. If I knew what was the next step,
I will tell you. I don't.
- Okay.
- My job is to deliver the message, then that's it.
- Yeah.
- Okay? Otherwise, I tell you, but I don't know.
- Okay. - Okay.
I'm just a messenger.
- Yeah.
- [Crowd] Who do you protect?
(foreboding music)
(crowd screaming) (sirens blaring)
(metal gates clanking) (crowd yelling)
- Stand back. Don't push people around.
You guys are being violent.
- [Protester] Well, it should deescalate, right?
The residents don't want a big violent thing happening.
(crowd screaming)
- [Protester] Stop!
- [Protesters] Let them go! Let them go!
(intercom indistinctly talking)
- [Ginger] I think they're gonna back us out slowly
until this place is cleared.
And then, we will not be able to get back in.
- [Ginger] It would be the same bylaw that they'd be.
So you'd be-- - Everywhere.
- [Ginger] Everywhere. Public parks in Toronto.
I think that it also particularly important day in that
there are services for people
that they do not offer the same way
that they're going to today.
There are opportunities available today
that won't be available.
As fucked up as what's going on here,
It's also perversely a very good opportunity
for you to get yourself lined up
with the types of options
that you would most appreciate: permanent housing.
Would you just, at least, if I was there,
come and just talk to Mitchell
and you can ask him your questions.
- [Mitchell] Yeah.
- [Ginger] Mitchell, you stay.
- [Ginger] Please stay for a minute.
- Mitchell.
- I can't say-- - But this is.
- [Ginger] Okay. So the police are gonna come in now.
Okay. - Yes.
- [Ginger] And that was an opportunity for housing.
- [Ginger] So do you have belongings
that you'd like to have?
- [Encampment Resident] Yeah, yeah. I do. I do.
- [Ginger] So what's gonna happen then,
is all we're gonna be able to do,
is try to give them instructions
on how to pack your stuff up.
(foreboding music)
(continuous thumping) (cameras shuttering)
(melancholic music)
(machine beeping)
(crowd yelling)
(machine beeping)
- This is the first time I'm in the park, in the real park.
Real, I mean,
no one here except residents of the city, enjoying the park
since I purchased the place.
I'm glad that the city took part and finally,
well, some people, I'm sure found places to stay.
Others had the choice,
but they had to leave this park
and I'm glad that it happened.
(dog barking)
Yeah. You loving it here.
Oh, there you go.
This is what we've been waiting for.
- [Zach] And so you're going back to your place then?
- No, I gave my place to some friends.
They just sold their place
and they were homeless for two weeks.
So I said, "Here, just live here."
I'm staying at my boyfriend's place.
(melancholic music)
(melancholic music continues)
(distant crowd chattering)