At the baseball diamond at Toronto’s Moss Park, something other than angels are in the outfield…

when you look upon the Outfield it too is overrun with homeless people and their tens David men for Rebel news here in downtown Toronto and you know folks sadly reporting that a park such as this one Moss Park has been overrun by a tent city encampment well that's about as newsworthy these days in Toronto as reporting that there is salt water in the Pacific Ocean but you know there is something a little different here at Moss Park because not only has the Parkland been claimed by the homeless but also the recreational facilities as well and I'll get to that in just a second but you know folks do you remember back in 1994 that Disney film Angels in the Outfield well of course nobody remembers that film it was cheesier than a bucket full of Bulgarian feta but in any event let's check out this excerpt from that film maybe you could help him win a little I'd really really like a family Ben Williams makes a miraculous cat holy cow how do you do that well here there are certainly No Angels in the Outfield instead when you look upon the Outfield it too is overrun with homeless people and their tents and you know it's a little irksome to me folks there is plenty of Parkland away from the baseball diamond in which these tents can be pitched why would you pitch it in the baseball diamonds Outfield what is the advantage to being in the Outfield as a matter of fact I think if I were to be part of the encampment I would put my tent under a tree for added shade added shelter but no uh having your tents here completely eradicates the use of this property as a baseball diamond and what's worse is that the city seems to have no problem with this I did reach out to the city of Toronto to find out if they plan to do anything thing about the Moss Park baseball diamond being overrun by homeless people and here's what they sent to me quote encampments are a symptom of the housing affordability crisis shelter demand that exceeds availability and other social crises such as mental health and Drug toxicity the city of tono's approach to encampments is one that seeks to balance the needs of people experiencing homelessness and the needs of the surrounding communities Moss Park is an important site for City staff who work with people experiencing homelessness as part of the city's encampment protocol staff attend the park regularly to build rapport with individuals offer services and work with them towards housing the best way to reduce the number of encampments in the city is to help people obtain and maintain permanent housing of the 18 people currently encamped at Moss Park seven have active housing plans and the city has resolved 35 encampments at the park since July 1 currently Metro Links construction has necessitated a reduction in the number of recreation permits for the baseball diamond and other facilities at Moss Park City staff continuously monitor the area remove debris and provide daily cleanup of Hazards so community members can use the park safely end quote well folks for starters I think that number of encampments pegged at 18 that is grossly understating the actual homeless population as far as I can tell and I don't know maybe I'm missing some Nuance in that statement but it doesn't sound like an action plan to me it really really sounds like the city is waving the white flag of surrender and you know in the department of perverse irony I'm looking at a bylaw sign here um behind home plate and it says no ball playing after 11:45 p.m. no excessive noise residential area and what I find amusing about that I assume they mean the residential area is on shooter Street where you see houses just north of the diamond I don't think what they meant to say is that the baseball diamond itself or more uh specifically The Outfield is a residential area but that's exactly what it is right now in the final analysis I think that if Disney were to shoot a reboot of Angels in the Outfield I think they would change the plot a little bit instead of the kid praying for for divine intervention to help the hometown team win a pennant I think in Toronto of 2024 that kid would be praying for the city of Toronto to do something tangible I.E clean up this baseball diamond and allow it to be used by children to yes play baseball for Rebel news I'm David the menzo menes well first vagrants came for the Parkland here at Moss Park and now now they occupy the baseball diamond it is such a shame summer is too short a season and for people that live in this community the bul field well it's off limits folks we got to fix our cities and please go to our petition by that very name that's fix our cities.com fixar cities.com sign the petition let the powers that be know that this kind of inactivity that is destroying our great cities and our Dominion is unacceptable and if you can please make a donation so that Rebel news can continue to bring you the other side of the story