Armouries as homeless shelters? 'Angry' Tory says no way

Toronto Mayor John Tory used a Tuesday morning interview on CBC Radio's Metro Morning to double down on his rejection of a request to open two armouries to Toronto's homeless.

Tory's plan to add 400 shelter spaces by opening up motel rooms and freeing up space in existing shelters was criticized for overburdening an already full system.

Housing advocates like Rafi Aaron, a spokesperson for the Interfaith Coalition to Fight Homelessness, have called the plan a "great disappointment" that will "shoehorn" the new spaces where there's no room.

• Tory calls for the addition of 400 new shelter beds to help relieve a 'challenging situation'
• Mayor John Tory's shelter plans will they work for Toronto's homeless?

Aaron wants Tory to open up the Moss Park and Fort York armouries a plan that's been backed by Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam as well other housing advocates and 20,000 signatories to an online petition.

But the mayor clapped back on Tuesday, questioning why advocates like Aaron were taking centre stage in the debate.

"Why is it when it comes to opening the armouries are these one or two people to be taken as having the gospel?" he asked, bristling at the implicationthat "if I don't do exactly as they say that somehow that this means that I'm not doing my job."

The mayor said that public service experts inside and outside of city staff have advised him that opening the Fort York and Moss Park armouries would open up "a number of issues," including inadequate facilities.

He also said that though it wasn't the main consideration, opening the armouries would be costly.

When it comes to Aaron, "I'm taking his word against the word of the experts who work for the city," said Tory, who said he was angered by the "orthodoxy of a small group of people" on the issue.

• Looking to tackle negative perceptions, Toronto considers renaming homeless shelters

Those experts, he said, "have said to me over and over again, that this will be done within the shelter standards" and that people won't be crammed in.

He also said that 291 more shelter beds would be created in the new year as part of the city's plan to open five new shelter programs.