BY: Ayesha Khan
A public community safety meeting was held by Councillor Anthony Perruzza’s office at Shoreham Park.
Among those in attendance were residents of the Shoreham Court Toronto Community Housing Complex, Toronto Community Housing staff from the northwest division, the local complex, and the adjacent seniors housing complex, members of the City’s Crisis Response division, Neighbourhood Community Officers from Toronto Police’s 31 Division, the Community Police Liaison Committee, Councillor Perruzza’s Chief of Staff Matias de Dovitiis and local Member of Provincial Parliament Tom Rakocevic.
The meeting was requested by residents in response to a shooting on July 22nd, 2023, where an adolescent male was critically injured. Violence in the local complex is an ongoing issue, with multiple instances of shots being fired in past years, and a climate of fear growing among local residents.
Ongoing safety meetings have yielded safety measures put into place in various states of completion, such as increased lighting in targeted areas, but residents complained that these reforms were not enough, and the safety concerns linger.
A persistent theme within the complaints was that of a lack of general maintenance. Of prime concern was surveillance equipment. Residents told staff that cameras in the locality are subject to vandalism and need to be maintained. They claimed that when cameras need cleaning or fixing, this does not take place in a timely fashion, leaving critical areas unguarded.
Residents also complained of other maintenance issues, such as bushes in the area being overgrown, and walkways needing cleaning. These issues are indicative of a system-wide problem, hailing back to the provincial devolution of metro housing onto the city, without a resultant empowering of revenue-making or decision-making capacity to maintain its crumbling infrastructure.
Across the city, metro housing faces issues. With a waitlist longer than 10 years, and many infrastructure problems in need of capital investments, often vulnerable residents are unable to access the housing and/or services they need.
The manifestation of this funding and governance inadequacy, coupled with a growing culture of violence among marginalized youth, have led to decreased usership of the complex’s amenities—that is to say, children who are afraid to play in the park.
However, all hope is not lost.
The meeting was well-attended and did not suffer a moment of silence. Residents and activists ensured the conversation was replete with suggestions, which were well-debated and will be further explored and examined via Councillor Perruzza’s office, with city staff.
Residents suggested the creation of a gated enclosure, and other methods of restricting entry into the complex. They suggested increased enforcement in the general vicinity.
Extending beyond improvements to physical space, residents also spoke of youth empowerment, and education, as potential solutions to help curb the culture of violence. Residents want to begin a mentor-mentee program, so children can be supervised and supported after school, and given positive influences to help steer them away from being lured into gangs.
While the situation is complicated and will require long-term investments as well as iterative action, it is important to note that this meeting was an example of democracy in action. The turnout, and contribution witnessed at this meeting proved that residents are engaged, and ready to be vocal and contributive about what they believe will help remedy this situation. Local government officials met with residents directly, to hear firsthand their concerns and consider grassroots solutions based on experience and proximity. While local officials can often be limited by the priorities of governments of the day and the hard lines of budgets, what’s important is that they are attentive to the needs of the communities they represent, and that residents know not only that when they are hurting, they should speak up, but also that when they do, they will be heard.