Homeless program in upscale Toronto neighbourhood to go ahead

Last Updated: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 | 3:37 PM ET

CBC News

A minister in one of Toronto's toniest neighbourhoods says the time for talk is over and he's going ahead with a weekly winter homeless shelter program beginning next Monday.

Rev. Stephen Kirkegaard will open the doors of St. Aidan's Church in the east-end Beach area to provide food and shelter to as many as a dozen homeless people, despite the objections of some residents who worry about increased crime, lower property values and what they say is a lack of communication.

"For the last three months, we've been trying to get the word out," Kirkegaard told CBC News. "We know people are busy. But at some point now we have to say, 'It's cold and now is the time to offer shelter.' "

The church, in an area where new townhouses near Lake Ontario are going for over a million dollars, announced last fall it was joining the existing Out of the Cold program. Some local residents, who attended an open house at St. Aidan's on Tuesday, say they were never properly informed.

"The ones who are sitting at registration [at the meeting] are saying, 'This is a fait accompli, it's going to be done next week, it should have been done two weeks ago,' " one resident told CBC. "And I only found out in December.

"So the whole process is where I'm a little concerned."

Most of the questions at the meeting, which included fire, police and zoning officials, representatives from Out of the Cold and local church staff, revolved around safety, especially in terms of homeless people travelling to the Beach from other areas.

"It would be unfair to say that there couldn't be crime as a result of someone coming to this community for this program" said Staff Sgt. Steve Tracy of Toronto Police Service. "[But] our experience is simply that it isn't the case."

There was also some concern about possible growth from the dozen St. Aidan's is hosting this winter. Some Out of the Cold locations, such as First Unitarian Congregation in the west end, host up to 70 people a night to sleep, feeding twice that many.

"It has been my understanding that this is a pilot [project] and this is a project that might grow over time," said Sandra Bussin, the local councillor who counts herself a supporter.

"Some of the programs have 40 or 50 guests per evening. I was asking city officials what would be the [proper] number [for St. Aidan's] and they felt if it grew to 24 that would be right."

After that, she said, "there should be some dialogue."

Bussin disputed media reports that large parts of the neighbourhood are up in arms about the project, pointing out that of the surveys filled out at the meeting on Tuesday, only 23 were against while more than 100 were in support.