, only two per cent said they strictly sleep outside. Few, if any, have lived in the urban wilderness as long as Dickson.Dickson has lived at his current spot since at least 2009, and likely longer.
There’s a lot he’ll have to get used to when he moves back inside. The ease and privacy of his own washroom. No longer having to fret over whether his water will freeze or his “can of heat” will run out of fuel or if he remembered to put his food away, so the raccoons don’t, once again, break into his home.His is a mostly solitary existence aside from the wildlife and occasional mountain biker. Dickson doesn’t own a phone or computer and says he’s never used the internet.
When he was a young child, at the height of the Sixties Scoop, he says authorities came to take him and his siblings away. Eventually, they were put up for adoption. Though they kept him and his younger brother together, his sisters went to another home. But he insists he’s not a victim. He says his father was abusive. “I had no objection to them coming in and getting me out of there.”
Through all of it, there were dust ups with the law that left him cynical about the justice system — and frequent movement. He bounced around the city, at times renting, other times sleeping on a friend’s couch or at a hostel or shelter, an environment he says only brought trouble. Steps from one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares but surrounded by trees, Dickson has enjoyed a front-row seat to nature — the rabbits, the coyotes, the wild turkeys that appear in late summer, the golden eagle that used to come around before all the construction. But it’s not all idyllic. Hardly. The winters are harsh. The summers swarm with bugs, which has taught him the perils of using scented soap. Even washing your clothes can prove a magnet to mosquitoes, he says.
See, it is still the best (self-proclaimed) country in the world. He waited patiently, not complaint, no violence, no nothing and the 'caring' society came through. Sweden, homeless, apply to soc serv. 48 h in your place till back on your feet. They don't even brag.
I'm sure he's been saying for downpayment
how you your pension? got a bank account you'd have money .at least to eat .starting at 666. 00 plus oas .
It's okay. If he was a Ukrainian, he'd already have a job and a house. But because he's canadian, he gets nothing.
I love how the star is getting smaller and smaller on newsstands ..soon enough toilet paper size no need to fold up anymore
Good luck.
The Toronto star goes around and interviews hobos now, talk about a 'shitty' paper
For 20 years, Russell Dickson has not once considered contributing or working, instead of just taking our welfare handouts.
Toronto real-estate he should a few mill for his tent.
Perfect Star story. Has everything! Must be a front page story. From troubled indigenous background, to bashing affordable housing!
I wish him luck finding municipal service for seniors.
For whole 20 years, he lives like an animal in the woods. This is incredibly inhumane, another issue brought to light that the provincial is so brutal in cold blood.
Living in a tent is HOMELESS pure and simple.
Yea I’m gon pay for your subscription to get useless articles like this.
You don’t need a doctor to tell you to get inside. Toronto needs to get its priorities right. MentalHealthAwareness