As the City of Toronto continues to prepare for the FIFA World Cup, some residents experiencing homelessness near Union Station claim they’re being pushed out of the way, sometimes forcefully.
Union Station, the major transit hub in Toronto, will be flooded with thousands of soccer fans coming to the city next month for the FIFA World Cup.
One group, Toronto Underhoused and Homeless Union (TUHU), says as the city prepares for visitors, some of the most vulnerable in the community are being pushed out.
Andrew describes himself as being underhoused in the city since last fall. He says he’s witnessed rude behaviour from private security at the station against people like him.
“This is an issue that requires patience. This is a not an issue where you can just corral and push out of the building,” said Andrew.
“It’s time to give the city the red card for allowing this behaviour which is disgusting, discriminatory and goes against basic human rights,” said Angie Hocking, an advocate with TUHU.
On Tuesday, the group gathered at Berczy Park, just a few minutes away from Union. Over the last six weeks, the group says it interviewed 45 people at Union who are experiencing homelessness.
About 90 per cent reported either seeing or experiencing security violence. That includes Christopher who shared what he went through.
“I actually overdosed myself at Union recently. Had I not been there I would be dead right now. I’m sorry but we try to be discreet, we try to be polite and none of us are going to hurt you so I don’t know why they have to hurt us,” explained Christopher.
The group says examples like this show that there is a pattern of displacement and intimidation against some of the most vulnerable residents as Toronto looks to clean up for the World Cup.
“Unfortunately what we’re seeing is a rush job. The City of Toronto is hosting the World Cup in less than a month. They have not done much to invest in actually improving the lives of most of us in this city,” said University of Toronto professor of urban studies, David Roberts while speaking at the event.
TUHU has laid out demands for the city to consider, including immediate 24/7 respite spaces available leading up to and during the global soccer tournament. They’re also calling for security contracts to be cancelled and replaced with harm reduction workers and outreach teams.
CityNews reached out to Toronto police, but they said security operations and policies at Union Station are led by the City.
The City said that a pilot launched in April with Metrolinx, TTC, Toronto Police and other partners to “strengthen coordination amongst existing outreach, health, housing and crisis-response teams.”
The statement adds that along with connecting vulnerable people to shelter, healthcare and mental health supports, the pilot is meant to emphasize on care, de-escalation and voluntary service access.
The Human Rights Advisory Committee is meeting this Friday at City Hall. Members of the Toronto Unhoused and homeless Union say they will be going to share their report and call for action.
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