A grassroots organization that opposes cuts to city services says Rob Ford is trying to shut down their rally in Dufferin Grove Park on Saturday.
Toronto Stop the Cuts learned on Friday that the city is suspending park programming for the duration of an event the group set up to oppose the mayor’s intention to slash the city’s budget. The rally has over 2,300 people attending according to Facebook.
Jenny Peto of Stop the Cuts said this is a deliberate attempt by the Ford administration to stop their meeting. “They never close down programming. There’s no other possible explanation,” Peto said.
Jessica Lyons, another spokesperson for Stop the Cuts, called it “an attempt to suppress democracy,” but said the event will go ahead as planned.
But Graham Mitchell of the Toronto’s parks department said the reason programming has been suspended is because the Stop the Cuts organizers didn’t apply for a permit.
“The park bylaw specifies that when you want to have activity in the park you have to have a permit,” he said. “Because there’s been no permit issued we don’t know what kind of activities will be taking place. There’s a couple of thousand people coming to the park, and that puts staff in a potentially difficult position.”
Mitchell stressed that the decision to suspend programming was made to ensure staff safety, and that Ford wasn’t involved.
When asked why Stop the Cuts didn’t apply for a permit, Peto said that as a group advocating for free use of public space, paying for a permit “would be antithetical to our entire mission.” She also suggested a permit would be too expensive for the group to afford.
The park will remain open on Saturday but the program suspension will mean five recreational staff will be sent home while the rally takes place between 12 pm and 5 pm. Other staff members will be on duty, but will be working indoors. Mitchell said that the affected staff will have their shifts rescheduled, but he couldn’t guarantee that they won’t lose work hours.
The programs affected by the suspension include park cleanup (which will be rescheduled until after the rally), service at the snack cart, and supervision of a sand and water pit for kids. The water tap at the pit will be turned off during the rally to protect children from drowning.
According to a spokesperson for local councillor Ana Bailão, the parks department originally planned to shut down programming for the entire day and close Dufferin Grove’s washrooms, but the councillor negotiated a compromise to only suspend programming during the event and to keep washrooms open.
While the suspended services won’t directly affect the ability of organizers to go ahead with the rally, Peto speculated that the city may be attempting to drive a wedge between activists and people who use Dufferin Grove’s popular programming.
“The point was to be in the park but not to affect the services,” she said. “They’re trying to affect their perception of us for sure.”
Stop the Cuts plans to devise a set of budget priorities on Saturday and present them to Ford when service cuts go before his executive committee on September 19. One week later councillors will vote on the 2012 budget at what is expected to be a highly contentious session at city council.
