Residents of Toronto's Church and Wellesley neighbourhood protest against violence in their community
CBC
Warning: This story contains offensive language.
Scores of residents of Toronto's Church and Wellesley neighbourhood staged a protest on Saturday to highlight what they describe as a growing problem of harassment, vandalism and violence in the area.
The residents gathered at Church and Wellesley streets and called on all levels of government to take concrete steps to make their community safe again.
Steven Dawson, who operates a hardware store in the area, said his windows have been smashed four times this year alone.
"My staff are harassed on a daily basis. We don't feel safe coming and going to work," Dawson said.
"One of my female staff, I have to sometimes escort her to and from work now."
According to Dawson, The 519, an LGBTQ charity in the neighbourhood, is often filled with "people that are actively doing drugs on the steps" leading to the building.
"That is not what we want to have The Village represent," Dawson said.
Dawson said The 519 is supposed to be a community centre offering services to members of the LGBTQ community, but now appears to be more social-service oriented, adding that it's not equipped to deal with issues like drug addiction.
"It affects residents, it affects business, it affects tourism. This is supposed to be a live and vibrant community and people are scared to walk up and down the streets now," Dawson said.
Dawson said while there are two storefronts for the hardware store, only one is unlocked.
"We can't have people sneaking in because we don't know what's coming through the door. So we have one entrance and one exit so we can monitor who's coming in and out of the door because we do not feel safe," Dawson said.
"We never know what's going to walk through that door and what we're going to have to deal with, and my staff is not equipped to be trauma nurses, they're not security guards, they're not therapists. Those are all expectations of staff to work in The Village now because we have to be tough as nails."
Paul Saguil, chair of the board of management at The 519, defended the charity, saying it offers a full suite of services.
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