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Homeless advocates, City of Toronto set to

 

 

Homeless advocates, City of Toronto set to

 

clash in court over distancing in shelters

 

 CityNews Toronto https://toronto.citynews.ca/2020/09/29/homeless-advocates-city-of-toronto-set-to-clash-in-court-over-distancing-in-shelters/ 2/4 A homeless person lies in a tent pitched in a centre reservation in downtown in Toronto on Saturday, April 18 2020. Many of the City's homeless population have taken to staying in tents around the city as health concerns continue about the safety in the shelter system due to the COVID-19 pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young A group of advocates for the homeless claim the City of Toronto lied about complying with physical distancing measures in shelters, but the municipality is disputing the allegations, new court lings reveal. The two sides are set to square o in court Thursday over the city’s response to COVID-19 in Toronto’s vast shelter system. In particular, the advocates and the city are seeking clarication from the Superior Court of Justice about how physical distance requirements should be interpreted. The advocates’ group – a coalition of organizations that includes a drop-in centre and several human rights and civil rights organizations – alleged in court lings that the city has not been following distancing rules in shelters. “The City determined to assert that it had achieved compliance with physical distancing standards on June 15, 2020, despite actual knowledge that it had not in fact done so,” it alleged. The city said in court documents, however, that it has worked tirelessly to move more than 2,000 people out of shelters and into housing in order to achieve physical distancing requirements. 9/30/2020 Homeless advocates, City of Toronto set to clash in court over distancing in shelters - CityNews Toronto https://toronto.citynews.ca/2020/09/29/homeless-advocates-city-of-toronto-set-to-clash-in-court-over-distancing-in-shelters/ 3/4 Homeless advocates take City of Toronto back to court over shelter... (https://toronto.citynews.c homelessadvocates-court/) Toronto considering ambitious homeless housing plan in wake of COV... (https://toronto.citynews.c homeless-housingplan-covid-19- pandemic/) Related Stories “City sta have been working tremendously hard since the beginning of this pandemic to ensure that physical distancing was implemented and maintained within the shelter system,” it said in a statement. The advocates rst launched the legal action in late April, seeking an injunction to force the city’s 75 shelters to follow physical distancing rules. They alleged the city violated shelter residents’ charter rights and breached the Ontario Human Rights Code. The legal action had eectively been put on hold after the city agreed to ensure physical distancing in shelters and to provide beds to those in need. Now the advocates say the city had not met the distancing guidelines in some shelters, as it agreed to. The two sides are asking the court for clarity on the distancing rules. The advocates say numerous emails and documents from city sta show several shelter sites did not have beds placed two metres apart, the standard public health measurement to help curb the spread of COVID-19. “The guidance sought on this motion includes a rejection of the concept of ‘longitudinal’ spacing – a concept introduced by the City in an apparent attempt to dene away a signicant source of non-compliance with the ‘lateral separation of at least 2 metre between beds’ standard agreed to by the parties,” the group wrote. The city, however, disagrees. “(The advocates) further allege that the City ought to have been aware that the applicants had a dierent understanding of the meaning of lateral separation, despite never once advising the City that they thought 2 metres lateral separation meant 2 metres in all directions,” the city wrote in court documents. The city also took oence to allegations that it has lied and misled the advocates, calling allegations of a coverup “preposterous” and “oensive.” The city said it has moved 2,300 beds and assessed over 100 sites for physical distancing compliance since the pandemic began.