Wednesday, July 08, 2009


CANADIAN POLITICS:
CITY MANAGERS BEAT HOMELESS MAN IN TORONTO:
It seems that the managers in the city of Toronto are getting right mean these days. Tomorrow, as the following press release says, the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) will be holding a press conference about the recent beating of a homeless man in that city by managerial personnel staffing one of the 'shelters' down there. As the garbage piles up because of the civic workers' strike the boy scout thrill of actually having to work for a living wears a little thing after a few days. I'm sure the managers will be happy to get back to the hour long coffee breaks and the 2 1/2 hour long lunch. It seems that the jolly crew below were on the bottom of the ass kissing pyramid. Work for a change ? Yeah,as long as it doesn't last too long. But the boneyard shift ? This gets bad. Finally, they drew the flophouse (excuse me, am I supposed to say "shelter" in our politically correct society ?) detail. Considering that the city of Toronto is hiring outside contractors to deal with the vermin at the temporary dumps, this particular flophouse watch is probably the worst piece of bad luck a manager could pull. Or maybe not. What about sewers in TO ? Is that being contracted out as well ?
Who knows. One thing is for sure; the boys in the suits are getting right snake mean. One can only imagine what they'd do to their workers if they could get away with it. In any case, here's the story...
CPCPCPCPCPCPCP
Press Conference Thursday: City Management Assaults Homeless Man At Seaton House Shelter:‏
City management assaults homeless man at Seaton House shelter: Man severely beaten and dumped on sidewalk over dispute about a sandwich.
Press Conference
Date: Thursday, July 9
Time: 11:00 am
Location: Seaton House, 339 George Street(east of Jarvis Street, south of Gerrard Street)
Everyone is welcome. Please come out and support OCAP and condemn the assault of homeless man by City management at Seaton House.
Man severely beaten and dumped on sidewalk over dispute about a sandwich.
On June 24TH, 2009, Brian DuBourdieu went to The Seaton House men's shelter in downtown Toronto, to get something to eat and a night's sleep. Instead, he ended up spending the night in the emergency room of St.Mike's hospital.
The assault took place after Mr. DuBourdieu asked for something to eat from the city management who are staffing the shelter during the current strike. Despite his serious allergy to peanut butter, he was told by the managers that was all there was to eat, after which a sandwich was thrown at him. Upset and angry, Mr. DuBourdieu threw the sandwich back at the manager, kicked a steel door (causing no damage), turned and walked away.
“That is when the five city managers that were working, jumped me from behind, tackled me to the ground and three of them held me down while the other two kicked me repeatedly,” said DuBourdieu. The managers then picked Mr. DuBourdieu up. “They carried me down three flights of stairs and outside to the sidewalk where they dropped me on the ground and left me there”, says Mr. DuBourdieu. He was assisted to the hospital by a friend,where he was treated for his injuries, including torn cartilage and ligaments in his knee. There is a strong likelihood he will need surgery to repair the damage to his leg caused by the repeated kicks.
“The shelter system has been in crisis for a long time and sending in untrained managers to work in shelters does not help matters. Shelters are overcrowded, have insufficient food and are infested with mice and bedbugs” says Gaetan Heroux from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty.
"The shelter system desperately needs more funding and more beds, especially now when we expect an increase in homelessness.” “We call on the City of Toronto to apologize to Mr. DuBourdieu, return his missing property, make restitution towards him, lift the ban against him at Seaton House, and ensure that nothing like this ever happens again. We also demand that the police lay charges against the managers involved in the assault", said Heroux.
Press Conference Speakers:
Brian DuBourdieu
Gaetan Heroux, OCAP
Mike Leitold, Lawyer
For more information call OCAP - 416-925-6939
Visit ocap.ca to read our statement of support of CUPE
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Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
10 Britain St.
Toronto, ON M5A 1R6
416-925-6939
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