Toronto,
Canada
Home Depot Canada Head Office and Store Information Picket
Wednesday October 2, 2002 - 12pm
At the 428 Ellesmere Rd Store
Toronto Disaster Relief Committee organized an
information picket at the Home Depot store and head office on
Wednesday October 2. The event went very well -- with roughly
40 people in attendance that included union members, people from the
faith community,
students, homeless people, and others. The Home Depot security
guards were ready for us the second we stepped off our school bus in
the parking lot. The security guards (with some assistance
from the police) demanded that we not distribute leaflets on their
property and demanded that we immediately leave. We managed to
hold them off for a while and held an impromptu press conference
right on the driveway. We had a letter drafted to deliver to
the president, however, the security officers did not allow us to
enter the building to deliver the letter. We then took to the
public sidewalk and handed out leaflets to all those entering the
Home Depot parking lot, as well as waved our placards to those
driving by. All felt the event was a success, easy to organize, got
lots of media attention, and it was wonderful to hear the public
support from cars and trucks honking as they passed by. For
more information on how to organize an information picket at your
local Home Depot store, see our information pack.
--Musonda
PS: Below is the letter we delivered to a security officer of Home Depot at the event.
October 2, 2002
Dear Annette Verschuren, President
Home Depot Canada
426 Ellesmere Rd
Scarborough, ON
M1R 4E7
Dear Ms. Verschuren,
As you should be well aware by now, the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee (TDRC) is calling on Home Depot to:
1. Treat Tent City residents with respect. Give them access to their dwellings. Protect their property and their homes. Help them move or store portable structures. Help residents salvage the homes that cannot be moved.
2. Acknowledge the error of your ways. Home Depot should make amends by offering $50,000 per unit in capital funding for construction of 55 units of new social housing – the same number of units that were on the Tent City site – for a total bill of $2.75 million.
3.
Adopt the One-Percent Solution. A growing number of
groups, including socially responsible corporations, are calling on
the Canadian government to restore housing programs that were
cancelled in the 1990s. Home Depot should be an active partner in
the One Percent Solution, the campaign for a fully-funded national
housing program.
In this letter we wanted to draw your immediate
attention to the first item – access of residents and supporters
to belongings and dwellings on site. This issue is still causing
great turmoil.
There are still considerable resources on the
site. Among many other
important items, there are materials that were donated for emergency
relief for the community including 2 Durakit shelters (estimated
value of $6000), 1 ProHome shelter ($9,000), a number of smaller
shelters ($2000), a construction trailer ($3000), and 25 Woodstoves
($3250). It is
essential that we reclaim these and other items.
Your extreme move to evict the residents
without any thought as to what would happen to the people you
displaced is a disgrace as well as a clear violation of
international laws on mass evictions.
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights says that
“forced evictions are a gross violation of human rights”
(Resolution 1993/77, para.1). The
U.N. says that if people have to be moved, they should be given
enough notice so that they can prepare for the move, new homes at
another location and practical help in relocating.
Many of the people that you evicted last week
are still in great disarray, extremely stressed and traumatized.
It’s been impossible for them to even consider collecting their
belongings. The community is now scattered.
Some people have gone back to the streets where they are
extremely vulnerable. We
fear the hazards associated with living outside, including the
possibility of suicide.
The TDRC asked on numerous occasions to meet
with you about Tent City. We even sent a letter to you only days
before the eviction. Sadly,
we heard nothing substantive or positive, only vague notes from your
lawyers -- and then we all learned about the eviction.
We have been working with the community at Tent
City for over two years and helping provide them with emergency
relief. We ask that you consider meeting with us now to discuss
plans on many important outstanding matters, including how we might
access the donated emergency relief materials still on your site.
Sincerely,
Beric German
Toronto Disaster Relief Committee