A Dangerous Land for the Homeless

A homeless man lying alone on the street during a dark night in Toronto (Young, 2022).

How can one say that Canada is an openly empathetic, forgiving land; infinitely opportunistic in nature, when the harsh path for the indigent population likely leads towards death, even if they aren’t at fault. Toronto, widely regarded as a safe haven for all people regardless of race, sex or social stature is under threat; not by inflation, rising house prices, or extreme extents of cost of living, but by violence.

Taking a comprehensive look at the root of this influx of violence, several conclusions can be made upon the state of mental health in society today. In a recent instance, eight teenage girls had stabbed and killed a 59-year-old homeless man, named Kenneth Lee (Casey, 2021). In the wake of his murder, concerns arose contemplating the detrimental state of living conditions for the homeless, and what this rush of violent incidents implies on life as a Canadian. The incident highlights how the youth of tomorrow begin to distinguish themselves from what is perceived as core Canadian values, in order to establish new social norms, invoke moral superiority or devote themselves to diminishing their respective roles as a student, daughter, friend, or classmate.

There are several other accounts of violence which have appeared on the streets, eroding what countless homeless people have hailed as the solitary streets. A statistic which embodies this argument is the fact that in 2016, Toronto had only 120 violent incidents per month, however, this statistic rose to nearly 375 violent incidents per month, with a total of 11,677 violent incidents between March of 2016, and mid-February of 2021 (Casey, 2021). From this concerning statistic, it can be derived that the pandemic played a key role in increasing the numerical statistics of violent incidents per month by a factor of 307%. This inherently proves the existence of a correlation between the increase in mental health issues over the course of the pandemic, and violent occurrences against homeless people which carried over even after the pandemic.

Taking a look at professional assessments of this violence, a harm reduction case manager by the name of McNally with All Saints Church, has constantly met with homeless people who have been directly affected by a stranger’s actions (Baig, 2023). The city of Toronto should immediately work towards creating a more safe, healthy environment for homeless people to feel safe in. There are few ways to pursue this endeavor. One includes helping homeless people become more knowledgeable about accessing resources in their community. For example, the City of Toronto has a shelter system which provides housing for nearly 9000 people every night to help keep the streets clear, and reduce these violent occurrences (Baig, 2023). Another essential implementation is having higher emphasis on mental health opportunities for students and workers, in order to aid them in understanding themselves to preserve healthy and positive forms of communication within the community. This emphasis on mental health can be instituted by providing services for the youth in order to educate them on mental illness, having mental health specific trainings and assemblies and advertising mental health resources throughout social media, posters and other forms of widespread communication.

Despite the daunting stature of eradicating homelessness on the streets being more time-consuming and long-term, implementing strategies now to provide housing, and help the homeless rebuild and reconstruct can eliminate violence against the homeless, and create a better tomorrow!

References

Baig, Fakiha. “Attacks on Toronto's homeless appear to be escalating, advocates say - Toronto | Globalnews.ca.” Global News, 23 January 2023, https://globalnews.ca/news/9430001/attacks-on-toronto-homeless-escalating/. Accessed 9 September 2023.

Casey, Liam. “'Explosion of fury and violence and blood:' Toronto's shelters see increase in violence - Toronto | Globalnews.ca.” Global News, 6 June 2021, https://globalnews.ca/news/7925736/toronto-shelters-rise-violence-covid-pandemic/. Accessed 9 September 2023.

Young, C.Y. (2022). A homeless man sleeps on the street [Photograph]. THE CANADIAN PRESS. https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/attacks-on-toronto-s-homeless-appear-to-be-escalating-advocates-say-1.6242453 Accessed 9 September 2023.