Empty buildings in David Miller's 'hood squatted
Following the November 9 march on the Pope Squat (1510 King St. W. ) hundreds of people boarded chartered buses to the ritzy neighborhood where Toronto Mayor David Miller hangs his hat.
Just northeast of High Park is a group of large houses which have been slated for demolition to make way for (you guessed it!) more condos. In an area of one entire city block there is only a single house which still has people living in it. Fifteen neighboring buildings are sitting empty!
The cops made every effort to stall us, forcing us to crawl along well below the speed limit by driving their cars slowly just in front of the buses.
We hit the ground running when the drivers let us off in the north end of High Park, pouring onto Bloor St. at a fast march which turned to an all-out dash when we reached the side street where the houses were located. People scrambled onto the porch of one house and down the driveway leading around the back as the cops fought to clear the porch and front lawn. Three people emerged on the roof with a banner and megaphone as the crowd loudly berated the police.
The crowd circled the block several times over the next couple of hours, with some people finding their way to the rear of the buildings by way of a neighboring green space. When it was discovered that the cops had neglected to post guards at a second house, people poured onto the porch and quickly found their way inside. The cops clambered through the bushes and (in one case) even jumped from the neighboring porch in their haste to clear people from the house. As this was going on, at least ten people emerged from a second-storey window onto the porch roof!
From what we learned, these houses were in great shape and even still had some of the basic amenities such as furniture and dishes. Dozens of people could have been offered a place to live almost immediately. Instead, at the behest of greedy developers homeless people and supporters found themselves being brutalized by cops in the name of protecting 'private property' - never mind that the 'property' in question was not being used for anything.
Before leaving the area the group marched west through the side streets, stopping outside Mayor Miller's home (there was no one there) before dispersing into the subway. Despite the rough handling by the cops, everyone from inside the buildings exited safely and there were no arrests
David Miller was elected three years ago on a promise (among other things) to build more social housing in Toronto. Not only has this not happened, but he has allowed this large cluster of houses to stand empty literally in his own backyard. One speaker at the earlier rally at Parkdale Activity & Recreation Centre had mentioned that memorials had just been held for five PARC members who had passed away prematurely within just the past few weeks - all as the direct result of poverty and/or homelessness. Miller and the rest of that useless lot at City Hall are directly complicit in these deaths.
Cops guard one of the buildings occupied by squatters
Police scramble through the bushes in their haste to clear a second building that was squatted
Looks like this is going to be a tough election for Miller - and Santa is going to have to be visiting a lot more squats this year across Canada it looks like, unless city mayors do something about it....
Well done reporting the events that took place. Really felt part of the action! Let's hope it will bring about some real discussion and action!
Keep well.
It was a rough night for quite a few, with many of us being blattantly assaulted by the police. But I feel that for the mostpart, we kept our kool and only did what needed to be done to get the message out, and nothing more. the cops on the other hand... well.... we'll just say, I wont soon forget the piggish face of the few who decided that it was in the city's best interest to attack people less eqipped, half their size, and committing only minor offences.
Joey @sshole