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I had a bit of a disturbing experience yesterday as I was running errands downtown. First, I was glad to see the south Queen sidewalk east of University finally open. (Months of construction on the new opera house had blocked it off.) As I continued walking eastward past the acclaimed new structure (where I have enjoyed a performance or two) I wondered about why the the sidewalk was so narrow. It seems this stretch of Queen should feel a bit grander.When I reached the corner of Queen and Bay, I saw some police officers and city workers “taking action on sidewalk clearance”. They were clearing a homeless person’s worldly belongings off the sidewalk. Using shovels. And a pickup truck.<\/p>\n
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Now, I’m not sure where this homeless person was at the time, but he eventually showed up, the city workers stopped shovelling his stuff into the back of their truck, and the police ticketed the man for “obstructing the sidewalk.” Soon enough, a woman named Vicki from Street Survivors Central Neighborhood House showed up to help the homeless man, Scott, load his possessions into a minivan to haul back to his place.<\/p>\n
“Scott does have a place he can stay,” Vicki said as she folded damp quilts, trying to clear the site as quickly as possible. “But he keeps on coming back here. This isn’t the first time this has happened.”<\/p>\n
“Yeah, I got a place, but it’s full of crackheads and women of ill repute,” said Scott, smiling somewhat. He fussed about with a ragged copy of the Old Testament and motioned the minivan to pull up further.<\/p>\n
Now, I don’t know what Scott’s story is. I don’t know what his building is like. I don’t know why he keeps going back to the street. I don’t know the bylaw he was written up on, and I don’t know whether the cops who ticketed him really like doing that kind of work.<\/p>\n
But what I do know is it seems really sad for the police — and, by extension, the City — to aim their powers of “public space protection” at those, like Scott, who are most vulnerable (i.e. those who most easily targeted, most easily caught and, coincidentally, most likely to suffer as a result of said targeting).<\/p>\n
I wonder where has that kind of “civic vigilance” been for the past three years as hoardings at the northeast corner of Yonge and Dundas slow busy subway exit traffic to a crawl? Where have officers been every Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights when a lineup outside the Drake cuts the sidewalk width in half, narrowing foot traffic to a single file between a bus shelter and the velvet rope? Where was City Hall’s rampant passion for pedestrian freedoms when the MegaBins were being reviewed?<\/p>\n
I know I’m likely being equal parts catty and naive (“cative”? “naitty”?) but I think what I saw yesterday is unacceptable. Sure, the situation is complicated. Yes, there area lot of stakeholders and stories to appreciate. But it’s unfairness I want to see shovelled out of public space. Not people. Not blankets. Not kindness. And I hope I’m not alone.<\/p>\n