The protest against the Third Street shelter has left the streets and is now before the courts. Staff photos.
A fight to pause a controversial Third Street municipal seniors’ shelter in New Toronto has now hit the courtroom.
A Statement of Claim has been filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice by the South Etobicoke Community Association (SECA) and New Toronto Initiative “challenging the decision to locate a municipal shelter at 66 Third Street in New Toronto.”
The action comes as more than $15,000 has been raised online in a Go Fund Me campaign to stop the proposed 50-bed shelter.
The legal action, which was announced in a release on October 6, names as defendants the City of Toronto, Councillor Amber Morley and Bruce Davis, of Public Progress.
Councillor Amber Morley and former school Trustee Bruce Davis are named in the legal action.
“The claim alleges that the City’s site-selection process was negligent, procedurally unfair, and tainted by the bias of Morley and Davis,” according to a release by SECA.
The group alleges Morley and Davis ‘engaged in conflicts of interest, misrepresentation and improper influence that undermined public trust.”
“Let’s start with proper consultation and don’t hide what you are trying to do,” a spokesperson Mark Smith said on AM 660 radio.
The pending lawsuit was the subject of a call-in talk show on the station’s Ben Mulroney show on October 6.
The proposed City shelter will be built on this parking lot at 66 Third Street.
“This is the most undemocratic thing I have seen,” host Mulroney said. “I can’t believe it.”
Morley was blasted by callers, who called her a ‘ghost politician.’ She was taken to task by callers for not returning the phone calls or e-mails from voters.
Smith said the City and its politicians have not been frank and honest with area residents.
The City and Councillor Morley ignored residents, misled the public, and bent the rules to push through an inappropriate site at 66 Third Street, according to a posting on an Initiative website.
“Our community already carries its fair share of social services,” group spokesman Dan Perdue said. “We support helping vulnerable people, but this must be done fairly and equitably across Toronto.”
Perdue alleged the planned shelter is close to two schools and a seniors’ residence.
The City plans to build six shelters to help cope with a refugee crisis.
The group is seeking a court injunction to stop the shelter, have a transparent consultation process including residents to consider alternatives, and are seeking investments in child care, youth recreation, safe streets and local businesses.
The shelter was one of six shelters announced last year as part of the city’s efforts to meet an unprecedented demand for shelter spaces.
No date has been set for a court hearing.