OCAP TO RETAKE THE CITY OWNED 590 JARVIS BUILDING
http://ocap.ca/node/540
The building currently at the site of 590 jarvis:
HELP US CHALLENGE DAVID MILLER AND THE CONDO DEVELOPERS
When Mayor David Miller took office last year, he did so with promises of change. People hoped the homeless crisis would be addressed, the police would be reigned in, and communities would be strengthened. One of the commitments made by Miller on the campaign trail was to turn surplus city properties into housing for the homeless. He also made significant gestures towards building further social and supportive housing in this city. So far, he has failed to honour his commitments, and the city government continues to abdicate its responsibility to deal with homelessness and housing. The City has already sold off what was once an extensive list of municipal properties and where has the profit gone? Not into building affordable housing, to say the least.
So, one year after Miller’s election, some four hundred OCAP supporters took over an empty building at 590 Jarvis Street. The police immediately responded with force, including pepper spray, to clear the property. 590 Jarvis is owned by the City of Toronto, meaning the police acted on the instructions of the owner – David Miller and his city council. These events give lie to David Miller’s pretensions when it comes to housing and the very future of this City. 590 Jarivs is a six storey complex in excellent condition. With heat, electricity, water and telephone lines, it is virtually ready for dozens of occupants. It has been a police headquarters, a welfare office and a homeless shelter. Recently, it provided office space for social advocacy groups, who were forced out when the City decided it would sell the property. Negotiations are underway to sell it to a condo developer called ‘Great Gulf Inc.’ The sale is set to take place on February 22, to the tune of $8,250,000.
Not only is the need to house homeless and low income people being disregarded, but the process of gentrification that pushes up prices and destroys low income communities is being fueled by this sale of City property. While people sleep on the streets or contract and die from TB in overcrowded shelters, there is no ‘surplus’ housing to speak of. The loss of 590 Jarvis must be laid at the door of David Miller, as must the forced removal of homeless people seeking refuge under the Bathurst Street Bridge earlier in the year. The bitter truth is that the agenda of gentrification and social cleansing that we associate with Mel Lastman has not changed under Miller. It is just being implemented with a bit more skill and a lot more dishonesty.
We understand how much some people would like to believe that Miller has a different vision for this city, but we cannot ignore the fact that elite interests continue to be given the green light. Unless we’re prepared to accept a Toronto that is redeveloped in keeping with the demands of tourist industry magnates, big property owners, and condo developers, we have to take a stand.
One year ago, OCAP advanced ‘Ten Demands for Action on Poverty’ [listed below], which we put before Miller and City Council. Despite the practical and achievable nature of these demands, which seek to address basic needs and rights of poor and low income people living in Toronto, the response from the municipal government has been negligible. That fight can and must continue. Our actions around 590 Jarvis are just one way to do this. On Febuary 3rd, we are going to Council Chambers at City Hall to demand answers about city-owned vacant property and if no real response is given, on that day, we will return to 590 Jarvis. We ask all those who support the right to housing and oppose the kind of Toronto that ‘Great Gulf Inc.’ and its counterparts would create to come out and join us. This City has more than enough condos. It’s time to house the poor.