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The federal government gave the green light to open the Moss Park Armoury to serve as a 24/7 winter respite site for the homeless as early as Monday morning.
On Friday, Vaughan said the city would announce soon when the facility would open, but it would be a “matter of hours, not a matter of days.”
But, city staff said late Monday evening that they would need the weekend to properly “retro-fit” the armoury.
“When fully operational, services will include access to meals, showers, hygiene kits and referrals to additional support such as case management and housing supports,” a news release issued by the City on Friday said.
The facility is being made available to be run by the city for the next two weeks and will contain at least 100 beds.
“The temporary opening of the Moss Park Amroury will help make sure we continue to deal with the unprecedented demand our shelter system and winter respite system is facing this winter, and the province is working with us on an additional winter respite site we can use after the Armoury, which can be open 24/7 until April 15,” Mayor John Tory said.
After two weeks, Vaughan said the provincial government would be ready to open a more permanent shelter somewhere in the City of Toronto to accommodate the demand.
“The province has come up with an alternative that meets city’s needs. This arrangement allows us to keep Moss Park in our back pocket just in case,” Vaughan said.
Costs of running the facility will be shared between all three levels of government.
On Wednesday, the city sent a formal request for use of the armouries to the federal government.
In December, city council voted 25-17 against a motion calling on the staff to begin discussions with the feds regarding the use of the armouries.
Coun. Paula Fletcher said she wished council would have voted for the armouries motion.
“But now we do we have the OK from the federal government to get those opened up as quickly as we can.”
Toronto Mayor John Tory said the city continued to entertain the possibility of using the armouries, and also opened a shelter space at the Better Living Centre at Exhibition Grounds.
Warming centres were also established at Metro Hall and Regent Park Community Centre.
The city’s shelters have been under extreme strain due to the bone-chilling temperatures of recent weeks, regularly exceeding 95 per cent occupancy.
Temperatures fell to a low of – 22 C last night and are expected to fall to – 24 C without the windchill tonight.
The City of Toronto remains under an extreme cold weather alert but temperatures are expected to rise as Monday will have a high of 1 C and Tuesday will have a high of -2 C.
“It should have never have taken this extreme level of cold to trigger the opening. We’ve been campaigning for a year because the problem is as acute in July as it is now,” street nurse Cathy Crowe told CP24 Friday.
“It’s a critical condition and city hall is not waking up to that.”
She criticized the two week duration that Moss Park will be open, saying not enough has been released about what will replace it.
“We’re hearing about another location but we don’t know the arrangements there – it puts people in limbo.”
Provincial Housing Minister Peter Milczyn said he is working with Tory and Health Minister Eric Hoskins on a future shelter but could not provide details on when it would be ready.
“We are working with City staff to deliver this solution as soon as possible, and will provide more information in the coming days. I will be meeting with Mayor Tory, along with Minister Hoskins, very soon to discuss the current situation and how best the provincial government can continue to assist.”
