Toronto police finally cleared out violent squatters at several parks in 2021. So why is the city’s ombudsman condemning this?

• By David Menzies

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Crypto

Astute viewers of Rebel News are no doubt aware that Toronto has endured major problems in recent years regarding its public parks. And by that we don’t mean the swings and teeter-totters aren’t functioning properly.

Rather, several parks were taken over by homeless people, some of whom are criminals, some of whom are drug addicts, some of whom are mentally ill, some of whom are violent, and at least one of whom was the owner of a vicious, dangerous dog… what could possibly go wrong?

Thankfully, in the summer of 2021, the city of Toronto and the Toronto Police department did the right thing and began enforcing the Trespass Act by removing these campers.

And that’s the thing: everyone has the right to enjoy a park. But you don’t get to stay overnight for months on end; you don’t get to defecate and urinate on the lawns; you don’t have the right to do drugs; you don’t have the right to turn the playgrounds into no-go zones; you don’t have the right to harass and intimidate mothers and fathers and children visiting the park.

But that was exactly what was being tolerated in Hogtown. And it was shameful. But almost two years after Toronto’s finest cleared out a handful of parks comes a report from the city of Toronto’s ombudsman.

Alas and alack, it appears that even the ombudsman’s office has gone hopelessly woke. You see, Toronto Ombudsman Kwame Addo said the police showed "significant unfairness" when it cleared homeless encampments in the summer of 2021.

He also said the police chose to act quickly despite there being no urgency to do so. Oh really? No urgency? Tell that to the mothers bringing their tots to the playground at Trinity Bellwoods only to find used syringes and condoms there.

Indeed, Trinity Bellwoods is a gem of a park in downtown Toronto – well, sometimes. But until the homeless encampment was dismantled, Trinity Bellwoods was a danger zone. And yes, we have the video evidence.

By the way, at that very same park at the very same time, law-abiding citizens had to stay within spray-painted “social distancing” circles – or face a fine of $880!

Nevertheless, Addo’s investigation points to numerous problems in terms of how the police cleared the encampments. This includes the city treating the clearings as a "top priority", choosing expediency and enforcement despite there being no evidence to suggest the encampments were an emergency requiring an urgent response.

Unbelievable. Addo is clearly delusional. What was happening in Toronto’s parks was clearly an emergency requiring an urgent response. Too many parks had surrendered to dangerous thugs that summer.

What’s more, Addo says the city was aware people living in the parks had complex mental health needs, yet “failed to include plans to address those needs… Encampments and supporting the people living in them are complex. But the city owes a particularly high duty of fairness to these residents.”

Really? So maybe it was indeed a big mistake to mothball mental health institutions a half century ago. Maybe for their protection and ours, those suffering from mental health issues need to be… institutionalized?

Yet, what do you want to bet that Addo and his acolytes would find that solution to be cruel and unfair as well? In the final analysis, the city of Toronto and its police department deserve praise for addressing a long overdue problem.

Parks are places for people, as in law-abiding people. They are not meant to be drug dens and open toilets; they are not meant to be encampments for dangerous people and even dangerous animals.

Addo’s woefully woke report is garbage. Hopefully the city ignores its nonsensical findings so that the parks in Toronto during this upcoming summer of ’23 will be pleasant places to visit – as opposed to no-gone zones fraught with filth and violence.