Protesters, counter-protesters face off outside Toronto city hall over bike lanes, proposed shelters

Julia Alevato · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 15, 2025 6:20 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

Protesters and counter-protesters demonstrated extracurricular Toronto's metropolis hallway connected Tuesday implicit a big of caller decisions by the city, including connected projected structure locations, motorcycle lanes and methadone clinics.

The Downtown Concerned Citizens Organization, successful conjunction with Protect Bathurst, IntegrityTO, and respective different assemblage organizations, protested against a slew of caller moves by the city, including projected shelters successful the areas of 629 Adelaide Street, 2535 Gerrard Street and 66 Third Street.

They besides criticized Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow's government, saying metropolis hallway is being mismanaged. 

Paul Macchuisi spoke connected behalf of Protect Bathurst, a assemblage radical opposed to RapidTO — a program to adhd bus-only lanes successful immoderate areas successful the city. He said determination was a deficiency of consultation with the assemblage connected the city's plan. 

"Five 100 thirty-one radical attended the 4 sessions to marque sizeable changes to the Bathurst Street plan. That makes up lone 0.11 per cent of the colonisation and the affected wards. Do you mean to archer maine that this is satisfactory metropolis planning?" helium said.

Counter-protesters besides gathered extracurricular metropolis hall, holding signs and speaking into a megaphone successful enactment of motorcycle lanes, autobus lanes and shelters amid the protestation groups' speeches. Marina Classen, a assemblage organizer with a absorption connected harm reduction, said their intent was to correspond the astir vulnerable. 

"We were seeing a communicative being created among this conjugation that talks astir the voices of purely the 1 per cent. There's a absorption connected homeowners, there's a absorption connected businesses, there's a absorption connected radical that person a batch of privilege," said Classen.

Ontario's authorities has mostly had the backs of the main protester group, passing laws that unopen down harmless depletion sites, springiness constabulary the authorization to wide retired encampments, and rip up motorcycle lanes.

Planned shelters, motorcycle lanes taxable of plentifulness of debate

Nine of the province's supervised depletion sites closed down successful March, contempt a tribunal injunction that allowed them to stay unfastened temporarily. Since then, Toronto's remaining sites person seen an uptick successful visits. 

Under Chow's leadership, the metropolis has been moving to open 20 caller imperishable shelters with 1,600 spaces by 2033. The city's wide manager of structure and enactment services says the metropolis is inactive identifying locations, but immoderate councillors and ratepayers have spoken retired astir the deficiency of transparency.

Similarly, motorcycle lanes person been a hot-button issue. The state has publically said it needs to region immoderate motorcycle lanes successful Toronto to wide up gridlock. But, according to the city, projects with contracts awarded earlier the caller rules kicked successful tin proceed without restrictions, specified arsenic a bikeway connected The Esplanade. 

Speakers astatine the protestation against the metropolis included Conservative Toronto MP Roman Baber, erstwhile mayoral campaigner Anthony Furey and respective section advocates. Coun. Brad Bradford was expected to attend, but didn't.

Classen said the radical is utilizing their power to amplify its voice. 

"There is simply a bulk of them that person a heavy magnitude of privilege and transportation to media, transportation to governmental connections that allows them to amplify their voice, adjacent though they are a tiny group. And the world is that we request to amusement up and amusement that they bash not correspond our thoughts and our beliefs," she said.

'Democracy successful action'

Daniel Tate, the Executive Director astatine IntegrityTO, was 1 of the speakers astatine the main protest. He told CBC News that helium welcomed counter-protesters, but described it arsenic a "poor form" move. 

"It's ideology successful action. I bash deliberation it's mediocre signifier to person a megaphone blasting successful someone's receptor erstwhile you're trying to accidental something, adjacent if you don't hold with what that idiosyncratic is saying," said Tate. 

He said astir of the counter-protesters bash not recognize the nuances of the issues. 

"They're labelling everybody present arsenic anti-this, anti-that ... It's not specified a binary. It's not specified a achromatic and white. There are nuances," helium said. 

Furey said helium wants to spot much accountability from the city. 

"Unfortunately, successful the past 2 years, the metropolis is moving successful the incorrect absorption connected a fig of cardinal fronts, and I deliberation what we're looking for close present is simply a telephone for accountability," said Furey. 

"Accountability of wherefore truthful galore stateless shelters, truthful galore facilities that are expected to beryllium for compassion, person go assemblage cause dens."

Chow told reporters astatine a cardinal to the metropolis ceremonial successful St. Lawrence Market connected Tuesday that she is consenting to enactment and perceive to each sides. 

"We person to enactment together, perceive to each other, nary substance what governmental strife 1 has, I'm ever unfastened to antithetic ideas," said Chow.