Open Letter from Prominent Artists on Toronto's Homeless Crisis

Open Letter from Prominent Artists on Toronto's Homeless Crisis

January 28, 2019

We write to you as artists, writers, musicians, dramatists and filmmakers –those of us who bear witness, speak with urgent voices and build hope for social change. We are all active members of our communities and contributors to the hearts and minds of those who are our neighbours, colleagues, sisters and brothers.

Many of us have been haunted by what we have seen in Toronto. Homeless shelters are at capacity and close to 1,000 people are forced to sleep in respite centres, overnight drop-ins, warming centres and church and synagogue basements. In what is a second-tier system, people are lying exhausted inches away from each other, with inadequate toilets, no privacy, surrounded by the troubled sounds of people in crisis. We witness people who are traumatized by severe poverty, traumatized by no safe space, hurt by terrible stigma and relentless isolation.

This has gone on for decades. In the 90s the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee was calling homelessness a National Disaster, protesting for the Armoury be opened in the short term, while calling for a permanent " 1 per cent solution" - if 1 per cent of our national budget was devoted to this issue, it could be solved. Yet nothing changes.

We are all bearing witness to the effects of homelessness every time we walk outside. Our own research has shown that Torontonians are trying to make a difference; people want to help, but we need our elected officials to act, in our names.

Contrary to Mayor Tory’s pronouncement, homelessness is not simply the prerogative of people who are “mentally ill.” Homelessness causes people to suffer terrible despair, the pain of social abandonment and very real anxiety and panic induced by their everyday conditions.

Where are our political leaders? How do they sanction this neglect? We often hear that our politicians do not have the political will to take on these emergency issues- in fact, what we are seeing is political will - the will to neglect people in economic and social need who, daily, are damaged and dying because of this systemic neglect.

Each year city politicians and policy makers need to be reminded that homelessness is dangerous and is fatal for homeless people. Each year, advocates negotiate for safe shelter spaces. Callous city leaders repeatedly demonstrate a collective amnesia, deliberately withholding adequate sheltering and refusing to take real steps towards creating affordable housing. They change their minds only when forced to realize that their neglect is risking the loss of votes.

The declaration of a State of Emergency tells us that people are imperilled; that some have died and others will die and all must be protected from injury and death- and that the time to act is now. In our names.

We insist that people who we entrust with the responsibilities for providing human services and social policies have the courage and the moral commitment to declare a State of Emergency.

This urgency will mandate 3 levels of government to act to end the suffering and dying of people who are homeless. That is the imperative of governance in a civil society.

Most sincerely,

Laura Sky LLD (honouris causa) Documentarian/Writer/ Researcher

Min Sook Lee, Assistant Professor, Documentary filmmaker

Shelley Saywell, Writer and filmmaker

Sarah Polley

Michael Ondaatje

Margaret Atwood

Barbara Gowdy

Atom Egoyan

John Greyson

Kyo Maclear, Author

Leslie Feist, Musician

Joy Kogawa, Author

Deborah Samuel, Photographer

Richard Fung

Alison Pick, Writer

Gordon Sato

Linda Sato

Erika Ritter, Writer and Concerned Torontonian

Mia Kirshner

Pete Timmins, Musician, Cowboy Junkies

Dave Wall, Musician

Avi Lewis, Filmmaker

Attiya Khan, filmmaker & speaker

Amanda Martinez, Musician

Paul Salvatori, Journalist & Documentarian

John Kastner, Filmmaker

Ira Levy, Producer

David Cherniack, Filmmaker

Lorraine Segato, Singer/Songwriter, Cultural Event Producer

Dave Clark, Musician

Rich Marsella, Musician

Yung Chang, Filmmaker

Manfred Becker, citizen

Susan McClelland, Writer

Olivia Ward, Writer

Nancy Lang, Filmmaker

Peter Raymont, Filmmaker

Maureen Judge, Documentary Filmmaker

Ian McLeod, Writer

Debi Goodwin, Writer

Candida Paltiel, Filmmaker

John Harris, Harris Institute

Marie Natanson, Former CBC executive

John Murray, Executive Producer TV and Film

Rose Tavelli, Writer

Pam Bertrand, Producer

Alisa Gayle-Deutsch, Musician

Camilla Gibb,Writer and June Callwood Professor in Social Justice

Linda Laughlin, documentary researcher

Maya Gallus, Filmmaker

Justine P Pimlott, Filmmaker

Anne Pick, Documentary Filmmaker

Barbara Tran, Writer

Antanas Sileika, Writer

Jamelie Hassan, Visual artist, honorary doctorate, OCAD U

Christine Nielsen, Filmmaker

Jacqueline Swartz, Writer

Emmanuel Mabe

Gita Hashemi,Artist, Curator, Writer

Polina Teif - artist/filmmaker

Eric McBain - Art director

Hilary Armstrong, former Commissioning Editor, Documentaries

Aeyliya Husain, Filmmaker

Michelle Mama, Producer

Naomi Duguid, Writer and Photographer

Shabnam Sukhdev, Filmmaker

Lynda Reid

Lauren Margaret Marron, student, musician, artist

Kent Monkman, artist

Janine Marchessault, Professor

Maria Cioni, Writer

Lalita Krishna, Filmmaker

Sarah Spinks, director/producer

Brenda Longfellow, Professor Department of Cinema and Media Arts, York U

Anne Wright-Howard, Filmmaker

Marjorie Nichol

Daniel Sekulich, Writer/Filmmaker

Johanna Householder, Chair, Cross-Disciplinary Art Practices

Brenda Proulx

Snaige Sileika, Artist

Brennan Leffler, Filmmaker

Susan Reisler

Philip Hoffman, Filmmaker & Teacher (York U.)

Michael Zryd, Writer/Professor

Barbara Evans, Associate Professor Department of Cinema and Media Arts

Nelofer Pazira, Writer and Filmmaker

Shirley Goldenberg

Del Mehes, Del M Productions Inc.

Kirsten Scollie, Producer

Sonia Dolar

Barri Cohen, Documentary filmmaker and mental health counsellor (pre certified)

Kathy Wazana, Documentary Filmmaker

Shirley Goldenberg

Trish Saywell, Writer

Catherine Taman, Writer

Phyllis Ellis, Director/Writer/Producer

Charlotte Odele, Freelancer Television

Daniel Cockburn, Filmmaker, Video Artist

Gerard Paraghamian a.o.c.a. Chevalier de " l'Ordre de la Pleiade."

Sarah Jane Growe

Cynthia Kinch

Elizabeth Klinck, Researcher

Laurie Few, Executive Producer

Chris Terry, Filmmaker

C. M. Comuzzi ED.D ATPPP

Cate Cochran, Writer and Radio Producer

Laura Fernandez CIPS, CNE

Annie Oakes, Talent Agent

Jamie Zeppa, Writer and College Professor

Bob Culbert, Documentary Producer and Consultant

Alison Rose, OOnt

Aisha Jamal, Filmmaker

Cathy Gulkin, Filmmaker

Liz Marshall, Filmmaker

Deborah Palloway, Film Editor

Deborah Parks, Producer and Filmmaker

Michael Grippo, Cinematographer

Peter Sawade, Sound Recordist

Bob Pritchard, Community Activist

Shannon McManus

Janice Dawe, Producer/Small Business Owner

Christine Kleckner, Documentary Producer

Arlene Moscovitch, Writer/Documentary Filmmaker

Susan Poizner, Filmmaker and podcaster

Janice Tufford, Producer

Tom Walsh, Musician

Laurel MacDonald

Naomi Wise, Filmaker

Rebecca Garrett, Artist/Filmmaker

Joanne Wannan

Paul Kolinski, Musician

See a PDF of the letter here.