Seen on Facebook this morning: a friend mentioned an old story about Margaret Mead, an anthropologist who, when asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture, responded by talking about a 15,000 year old fractured femur. This leg bone had been broken and then healed, a process that takes about 6 weeks of rest, something that modern society takes for granted, along with the healthcare system including plaster cast, that allows us to maintain some level of mobility with a broken leg.

1/Only going to share one more conversation today, and then I'm done, I promise, until tomorrow

@nejsnave said to me earlier "I'm sorry you're so frustrated, it's a very difficult situation", but with all due respect to her (and that is a lot, holy shit does she put in the work) She's wrong. It's not a difficult situation. Capitalism makes it difficult because this system needs people to step on in order for the people at the top to pretend at greatness, but the solutions to social problems are simple social programs.

1/ Current plan puts 150 "affordable" rental units in the planned redevelopment. Those damned well best be massive fucking units.

This pressure from @HousingNowTO is a step in the right direction, but it is only a step. Even in their best-case, we're looking at ~1200 units.

https://twitter.com/HousingNowTO/status/1407694933721501697

2/ There are 81,000 households waiting for affordable housing, another 35,000 facing eviction over arrears due to COVID. 1200 units provides 1% of what is needed.

What would it take to pressure @cityoftoronto into using Section 37 of their Planning Act to force developers

1/ Today, a friend messaged a chatroom we're in, "I'm sorry I was there yesterday". They corrected themself a moment later, they had meant to say "wasn't", but...

I'm sorry that I had to be there yesterday. 2/ I'm sorry that our elected representatives made violently clearing encampments an official policy goal on June 8th and kicked the decision on how to implement that goal over to @TorontoPolice

I'm sorry that our housed neighbours have shown a willingness in the past to turn...

Where were you, Mike? You and your colleagues were specifically invited to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us in solidarity the next time the bulldozers rolled in. Did you think that because the dozers came in after the cops cleared us out, you weren't needed?

https://twitter.com/m_layton/status/1407326089475772420

Do we need to send you a gold-plated invitation for you to fucking show up for your unhoused constituents? Who the fuck do you think populates the Roehampton, other than people who have been forcibly displaced from encampments no different than yesterday's?

Morning. After 24hrs in Trinity Bellwoods Monday/Tuesday, I got back to the shelter and immediately passed out for 10hrs. Still exhausted, but thankful to all who came out yesterday to support their unhoused neighbours, to witness the City's violence against us, and to fight back When I left, it looked like a bittersweet win. We lost Bruce Lee City, and the beautiful artist's space that was there, but seemed to have been successful in negotiating housing for the few people in South Park. Seeing video on the news of @ESN_TO volunteers being pushed out...

How fucking dare so-called journalists come into established encampments, misrepresent themselves, cosplay as a homeless person for a matter of hours without contributing to the community or even bothering to get to know the people therein, and then write a smear piece... Fuck you all the way to hell, @RosieDiManno.
You think the couple hours you spent in our camp gives you insight into our minds, our hopes, our dreams, our creativity? You don't know shit, and you obviously didn't learn shit, or want to, from your little poverty tourism excursion

I've debated whether or not to address this part of shelter-hotel living publicly for about a week and a half now, but fuck it. Let's strip away some of @bradrossTO's lies, shall we?

1/ On CBC's Metro Morning on Mar 31, Brad came on after a short talk with 2 encampment residents, and claimed "So what happens is... they get a room, it's a secure room, it's their room, they have a key, they have a bathroom..."

2/