TORONTO, ON - JANUARY 6 - Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) Organizer, John Clarke speaks with the media outside of the Mayors office Tuesday January 6, 2015. A group of OCAP demonstrators gathered at Mayor Tory's office Tuesday, protesting the recent deaths of two homeless men who died on the streets during the latest cold snap. The Mayors office ordered the opening of Toronto's warming centres, which are usually opened only under extreme cold weather alerts of temperatures below -15 C overnight. Tara Walton/Toronto Star Tara Walton/Toronto Star
In an open letter released on Tuesday, a group of 30 social organisations and agencies have asked Mayor John Tory to push for the opening of the Moss Park and Fort York armories or facilities of equivalent size as emergency shelters in order to ensure that nobody is left out in cold.
The city maintains a monthly target of 90 per-cent occupancy for its shelter system, however in recent years the actual occupancy-rate in the shelter system has exceeded that.
