I walk Yonge Street all the time and I never see anything too crazy or violent, even late at night. What I do see, is that there are a lot of people who look physically and mentally ill on the street and the numbers seem to be rising. I have seen some very scary looking people who appear to be close to death and I find it disturbing. I just can't walk by and have it not effect me, like so many others seem to do. I saw one young Indian girl who looked like she just walked out of a concentration camp. I'm sure she is mentally ill and very close to death and yet, the city seems to do nothing to help these people. That's the issue I have with Yonge Street and the city.
How can you walk by someone who is seriously Ill, physically close to death and just ignore what is happening on our streets? I can't, it always effects me and makes me lose faith in the city. I get that feeling a lot lately walking down Yonge Street. I hope as the street becomes more upscale, people will demand that the city do something about all the homeless and destitute. Not just move them but actually do something to help solve the problem. I wonder what tourists think when they see all the beggars, homeless, mentally ill and physically sick, laying on Yonge Street.
I saw a disabled, old man, sleeping beside Dundas Square at around midnight recently, with his wheelchair beside his sleeping body. How much worse can it get than that? It was a completely pathetic sight that I filmed but I'm not sure what to do with the footage. I don't want to exploit the man but at the same time, an old, sick man in a wheelchair, sleeping on our sidewalks, is just a compelling sight and I think it needs to be exposed for the inhumanity that it is. I still can't get it out of my head.
