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Robert Maurice's Legacy

Robert Maurice's death, from hypothermia. brought city council to a stand-still in March. Maurie died on a night an extreme cold weather alter had been announced. His death infuriated poverty activists including Gaetan Heroux, of The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,

Gaetan Heroux said, "when you begin to find dead bodies, at essentially the heart of the city. People that we know, very well, it's disturbing. Especially because the Mayor has never ever spoken about the fact that Torontonians are dying on the streets." Adding, "Paul Crouch was murdered in our community, right at Moss Park. These deaths often go unnoticed. If you talk to people who live or work right on these streets...I went to hand out this flyer, yesterday at Seaton House to ask people to come. People told me about another death in the Annex, of the man that died in the hostel. I know the man that I met a year from Oakville, a truck driver, with a heart condition, that couldn't drive his truck anymore. He wound up in Toronto, was in the shelter system for 6 to 8 months; eventually got a room on Wellesley and I heard from his friends he died in that room. These are the stories we hear on a daily basis."

The city has responded to these issues claiming Maurice wasn't homeless.

That doesn't end the issue. A man died in a parking lot in Toronto. He had been homeless, apparently he was housed. For some reason he wasn't at his home that night. Was he adequately housed? Was Maurice safely housed?

OCAP released the following statement, "It was later discovered that although Robert had been homeless on and off for many years, he did have housing at the time of his death. Robert had been living in a private Habitat boarding home for psychiatric survivors since late summer 2006. He was forced to share a small room. We were told that up to thirty people lived in the house. Robert would have had very little privacy in that boarding home. Most of Robert’s income would have gone to pay for his room and board leaving him very little money."

Maurice's ex-wife, the mother of his son, said in a statement, "Rob was on the streets from 1991 up to about two years ago as far as I am aware, he did not care for the shelter system due [to] the danger and theft in the places, not to mention the uncleanliness of the unfortunate, he would rather stay out in the elements to feel safe."

Up to 30 people in one house? That doesn't sound like safe and adequate housing. The city has some explaining to do.