A coalition of homelessness advocacy groups is suing the City of Toronto over its response to the COVID-19 crisis. The organizations behind the lawsuit include the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO), The Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the Black Legal Action Centre and the HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario.
They claim many shelters in the city fail to offer two metres of distance between users. This, they contend, violates parts of the Canadian Charter of Rights and the Ontario Human Rights Code. “That’s where the Charter is engaged,” explained Kenneth Hale, the legal director for ACTO. “It’s treating people who are in the situation of requiring homeless shelters to accept standards that are dangerous to their health.