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Diana Chan McNally Profile picture
@Diana_C_McNally
Jul 21, 2021 • 90 tweets • 36 min read • Read on X
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A new dawn at Lamport Stadium for day two of #encampment removal. Horse-mounted officers already here. We need bodies.
Bustling. Residents and volunteers preparing for the day. Police drone already hovering overhead.
Hi, drone! Image
Here come police and security. It is definitely on today.
Gathered at the south end of Fraser Ave. Dozens of enforcement personnel again. Image
Looking north on Fraser. Lots of bodies, we need more. Hand-decorated pallets as defence on our end.
... pallets thrown aside by officers advancing back north. Image
Security lining up along Fraser. Fence time.
Fence going up on the west side of Fraser. People linking arms in defence.
"Safer Here Together."
From my mentor, Bob Rose, who is here:

Police have said "this is your last warning."

Another officer: "If you get arrested, you won't be released."
@Fudbar speaking now, criticizing "20,000 engagements," a number often touted by @JohnTory about how unhoused people are being supported. But what is an 'engagement '?
Brian Harris, the ED of @StFelixCentre who operate a respite centre on Fraser Ave, calling for an end to @cityoftoronto's actions to remove #encampments. There is a better way.
Supporters and #encampment residents asking city officials to call off the use-of-force we're seeing today. Officials walking away. People shout "do your job."
Just spoke with @KWardTV and @globalnewsto. Airing at noon. Speaking to the tensions here today. Emphasizing that both members of the public supporting Lamport #encampments and service providers like @StFelixCentre want the paramilitary approach of @cityoftoronto to end.
Exits at the north and south end.
BBQ for folks. We'll need more food and water. And witnesses! Come down.
Police are using bicycles to cut us off from speaking with supporters outside the cage. I see @beyrima. I'm glad an elected official is bearing witness.
An overview of the scene. @StFelixCentre parking lot used as intel base, only two portable toilets, media vehicles also fenced in. But at least media are here today inside the cage (if only b/c of early arrivals).
Horse-mounted officers leaving the cage. Too pessimistic to consider this a good sign.
In the background, supporters have managed to save a @TorTinyShelters. These have been essentially for encampment residents in securing a good night's sleep (and all the related health benefits). Image
We can see security leads and city officials in a huddle. Discussing what? I hope an end to this insanity, but highly doubtful. Image
Me, up on my strategic viewpoint, observing the scene. Talent by friend and colleague @erraticheretic, here inside the cage with me. Image
@beyrima expressing solidarity with us in support of unhoused people's rights. Thank you. Image
Security issuing warnings: "if you don't leave you may be arrested."
My favourite undercover officer is this Guy Fieri-looking cop. Image
We need more folks to come and bear witness outside the cage. Come down! Tight fit, and the fence is not making the sidewalk accessible for mobility devices, but the city won't move it.
The scene as on 10 am. A strange lull still. Guy Fieri undercover officer in a huddle.
No one believes you. Including me, a social services professional who has worked in the sector for years and teaches social service work at @GBCollege.
Officers explaining the etiquette of volunteers handing over supplies through the cage. Quick handoffs good; all else bad. We just received a small amount of water and some bags of ice.
Eavesdropping on a @CBCToronto reporter, who has named that there are 80 officers on site presently. Someone can do the rough math on the cost. Cops have been on dutyà since 5 am.
Once again, @cityoftoronto is attempting to restrict media access inside the cage. Unobstructed observation of events like today's is imperative to a free, functional, democratic society. Disgusting.
Another round of trespass warnings were just issued. I'm at the north exit grabbing supplies of water, granola bars, and toilet paper from @DailyBreadTO. Thank you! Convo at the exit with a @starsecurity staff: "I hope no one gets hurt."
@PaulTaylorTO is inside the fence in solidarity with us, here with #encampment supporter Rudayna. Again: people who operate and deliver essential social services are well represented among those opposing @cityoftoronto's actions. Image
We still need many more witnesses. Especially at the north end of Lamport. Ambulance and Court Services vehicles parked on King St. Maybe where people will be pushed out, or brought out if arrested.
Journalists still here (GOOD!), police grouped, but not in formation. Wondering if a delay in police enforcement is because of the continued presence of the media.
@beyrima speaking with @CityNews. All eyes are on @cityoftoronto and @JohnTory: with all of us watching, what will be your move? Image
Hearing now that riot police are inside Lamport Stadium. Maybe the worst will happen.
Overhearing that tents and Gatorade are considered weapons.
Thank you, @JoshMatlow. Also for your support with #APathForward. We gave @cityoftoronto a better way, and we still know it's the only compassionate way forward.
Also, for @JoshMatlow and any Councillor, especially @gordperks (they are tasty, I ate one) ...
Security in a huddle again. What's next?
More Court Vehicles have rolled on.
City staff are making rounds to tents to see if they're occupied or abandoned. Orange spray paint on the ground outside a tent demarcated that it's occupied.
RE: orange spray paint outside tents, they're marking who is a resident, so they won't be charged with trespassing. This is to identify who is a supporter, with the aim to force us out ... pending arrests, tickets, I expect.
Another round of trespass warnings have just been issued to every non-resident here.
KEEP WATCH. Shit is going to go down. I'll try to continue updates.
Police are in formation.
Police leadership: we want people to leave this park. We do not want to use force, but we will.
Barricades going up.
Fences coming down. Back up. I got pushed outside the fence.
Pepper spray.
Chaos and pepper spray.
Horses marching through the narrow path outside the cage.
Pushing people toward the north side. Grotesque violence. I can't. I'm going to cry.
Pushing everyone out.
On the outside now. Police barricading access back into the cage. People chant: "quit your job" at police.
I just saw my friends, colleagues arrested, assaulted, dragged across the ground, pepper sprayed. I don't know how many. I am feeling the sting of the spray, and a profound disgust at what I just saw. This is my home. These are my neighours. We all belong. We don't deserve this.
Being forced to move toward King St. People telling each other to make sure they don't get caught behind the police.
Just had to sprint. Sudden, but brief, advance toward us. People once again shouting: "Quit your jobs!" No. Not quit. Abolish your jobs.
@Wyld_Wych has been arrested.
On King St. Police pushing vehicles into people.
@Wyld_Wych is being released with a $65 ticket.
@myhumbleonions: police were pushing our bodies onto the tents. They used our bodies to destroy them.
@beyrima: I lept over a wall. I got pepper sprayed.
What now? The aftermath continues on King St. Will Moss Park be next tomorrow? Where are our friends who have been arrested. A break for rest (civil disobedience-style) and intel.
How many of my friends, colleagues were injured? Pushing people and using their bodies to destroy tents. Pepper spraying myself and many others I'm okay). Dragging people on the ground. Safety is clearly contextual, and your def'n is 'police safety' only.
We are counting 32 arrests on our end. 19 released so far. Higher than the count from @cityoftoronto. People still at @TPS14Div.
Meanwhile, the football of culpability for today's grotesque violence at #LamportStadium is being punted between @JohnTory @TorontoOEM @TorontoPolice (repeat, ad nauseum) ...
A gentle reminder that as a co-author of #APathForward, myself and many other orgs, leaders presented @cityoftoronto w/ a roadmap for compassionate, effectual engagement w/ unhoused people. #LamportStadium happened b/c @JohnTory refused our approach. Sign: chng.it/LZPHD5gk
We brought our own: thank you @MDCLegalUpdates. Also, the primary issue today was not media restriction, although their presence was a crucial element that helped to document extreme use-of-force (ahem, this was the issue).
On the subject of Councillors, TY, @m_layton. I also appreciated your support w/ #APathForward. That said, we know the power to stop actions like we saw today lies w/ @JohnTory. He must listen to advocates, service providers, unhoused ppl.
"Compassionate, but firm."
Yes. Unhoused folks were present to defend their community members. So were staff from key partner agencies with @cityoftoronto, including myself as a Coordinator with @TODropinNetwork. Critics criticize (unjustly), but we know who we are on the ground.
... rather on point, no? If #encampments are removed for 'health and safety concerns', why are anti-mask protestors given safe police escort? Oh right, class war.
Knee on the neck.
On that disturbing, infuriating note, ask a legal expert on property law (thank you @estair for using the necessary emphasis):
Go to @TPS14Div IMMEDIATELY.
No one was housed. No mention of @TorontoPolice brutality. Myriad other omissions and creative euphemisms. I feel like I've engaged with @cityoftoronto 20,000 times on everything they're doing wrong.
Yes. Work with us, and the 61 organizations, including #homeless service providers, who signed on to the letter I co-authored, #APathForward. It is a roadmap for a safer, healthier, kinder alternative to the ineffectual brutality we saw today.
Civil Disobedience 101: the right to protest & the disruption of government services are not mutually exclusive, & the latter is valid, effective, & understood as a tactic. Besides uninformed, this statement makes @JohnTory complicit w/ today's violence.
More to the point ... what services? A reminder that no one was housed today, & social work support was absent. The only 'conversations' I saw were people telling us that we — meaning supporters, media, unhoused people — could be arrested for trespassing.
As well, @StFelixCentre — who receive @cityoftoronto funding & operate the #homeless respite in #LamportStadium — asked you not to forcibly evict #encampments. They are arms-length City staff who actually engage with residents & offer support with essential & emergency needs.
I just spoke with @am640 about the events yesterday, including the levels of violence we saw, how @JohnTory is obstinate in working with unhoused people and sector experts to address homelessness, and the undermining of the freedom of the press. My disgust and anger was palpable.
Link is up: my speaking to @gregbradyTO on @am640 regarding the events yesterday in #LamportStadium: omny.fm/shows/am640-th…
#LamportStadium today: fenced off indefinitely, with a dozen bored, low-wage private security helping to "remediate" the park. No evidence of #encampments or yesterday's violence left.
Behold the privatization of the public space of parks. Where are the camps for "needy" children described by @JohnTory? The lies are so audacious they're beyond comprehension.

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More from @Diana_C_McNally

Diana Chan McNally Profile picture
Jan 9
🧵@AMOPolicy has released a devastating report about the state of homelessness in Ontario, which gives us our most accurate figure of how many Ontarians are currently homeless: 81,515 — a 25% increase in two years — of whom 41,512 are chronically homeless. amo.on.ca/sites/default/…Image
As with any exercise in enumerating homelessness, 81,515 is an undercount. However, we can see a sharp rise since 2021, with overall homelessness increasing by 11-14% every year since. Homelessness in Northern Ontario has grown by 204% since 2016 — a clear geographical disparity. Image
Image
Similarly, homelessness in rural Ontario has increased by 154% since 2016. By contrast, urban homelessness has increased by 11%. While homelessness is increasing overall, rural and northern communities are being hardest hit. Image
Read 13 tweets
Diana Chan McNally Profile picture
Aug 20, 2023
🧵Let's be real. Most people who use drugs are not unhoused. Not every unhoused person uses drugs. Every Conservative narrative that aims to conflate drugs and homelessness doesn't care about the wellness of either unhoused people or drug users. This is what it's really about: /1
ON has no #homelessness strategy. @fordnation touts a $202 mil. investment in the Homelessness Prevention Program, but this ultimately meagre amount of money is just for supports, i.e. staff salaries, in supportive housing — not brick-and-mortar housing. This isn't a strategy. /2
.@fordnation's housing strategy will also see a substantial decline in housing starts, and most of the housing starts the PCs have been taking credit for were initiated under Wynne. We're currently at ½ the housing starts needed to reach the PC's own goal of 1.5 million homes. /3
Read 14 tweets
Diana Chan McNally Profile picture
Jul 9, 2023
🧵 I visited asylum seekers at 129 Peter Street today. How people are being forced to live every day is shocking. We handed out lots of supplies — chicken, sandwiches, fresh fruit, water, Gatorade, menstrual products — but the need obviously far exceeds mutual aid efforts. /1
People are sleeping directly on the sidewalk, exposed to the elements. Security guards on-site won't let people fully cover themselves in tarps in the rain, citing a "security risk." They won't let people tie tarps between the trees to shelter under. People will get sick. /2
There are ≈50 people at 129 Peter St. Only ten people are allowed to shower each day and washroom access is one at a time. Menstruating women told us how difficult it was for them to stay clean under these conditions. Washroom/shower access is also only between 8 am and 8 pm. /3
Read 6 tweets
Diana Chan McNally Profile picture
Nov 4, 2022
I do not consent to be governed by anyone who treats our constitutionally-guaranteed rights as barriers, or frames our exercising these rights as "illegal." We are not your pawns to manipulate/undermine, @fordnation; we are rights holders, and we do not relinquish these rights.
For children, who were out of class for 27+ weeks due to @fordnation's pandemic mismanagement; who are being used now as a bargaining chip to withhold the rights of education workers who deserve a livable income.
For seniors, whose autonomy and lives are subject to the will and negligence of private long-term care, and who are finding themselves isolated at vast distances away from their chosen communities and the loved ones who keep them connected and well.
Read 7 tweets
Diana Chan McNally Profile picture
Mar 23, 2022
The more that I field requests for "de-escalation training," the more that I realize how little the social services sector fundamentally understands about the people with whom they work. /1
What seems evident is that people are seeking quick fix approaches to immediately and easily end someone's anger. I can teach that good support is rooted in calm, honesty, and empathy, but what they want is a figurative button they can push to suddenly end a "violent" crisis. /2
It doesn't work like that. Part of the problem of social services is that we've veered so far away from community development approaches that we've adopted a highly medicalized model of service delivery. We don't understand that our work is based in relationship building ... /3
Read 12 tweets
Diana Chan McNally Profile picture
Sep 28, 2021
We knew that a better approach to supporting people was happening in #DufferinGrove #encampment. But to @anabailaoTO's comments, this park *is* receiving preferential treatment vs. Moss Park, other parks. This approach must be applied everywhere. thestar.com/news/gta/2021/…
I'm also obligated to point out @anabailaoTO's voting record at @TorontoCouncil on June 8. Bailao voted against @JoshMatlow's motion to make shelter safer, and for @stephenholyday's motion of achieving "zero encampments."
Most importantly, @anabailaoTO voted against adopting a collaborative approach to working with #encampment residents as presented by @m_layton — the very approach now being used exclusively in her ward.
Read 4 tweets

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