What’s happening with our legal claim?
The date for our injunction has been scheduled for December 10th, 2026. The court has ordered the city to disclose any plans to commence construction in the meantime, in which case the injunction hearing date may be moved up.
We have also learned that Bruce Davis, the consultant from Public Progress hired by the City through sole-sourced contracts to manage community consultation around the shelter project at 66 Third Street, and a named defendant in our legal action, intends to bring an Anti-SLAPP motion against NTI. Amber Morley, our elected councillor, the representative for New Toronto at City Hall is also bringing forward an Anti-SLAPP motion against NTI and has asked the court for security for costs unless our case against her is withdrawn.
What is an Anti-SLAPP motion?
Ontario’s Anti-SLAPP law is meant to stop the powerful from using lawsuits to bully and silence ordinary people who are speaking up on a matter of public interest. It was created to level the financial playing field and protect ordinary people from powerful companies and interests.
Conversely, NTI, a volunteer-run community organization, may now have to defend itself against these well-connected public figures, backed by the City of Toronto and its unlimited taxpayer resources, who are using this tool to instead silence us.
Who is Bruce Davis?
Bruce Davis is currently serving as Chair of CreateTO, the City of Toronto's real estate development and asset management corporation, overseeing billions of dollars in public land and development projects across the city. While serving as chair of CreateTO he has maintained his position as consultant at Public Progress, and as a registered real estate broker in Ontario specializing in municipal clients and developers and operators of affordable housing. He also continues to chair the South Etobicoke Community Land Trust, whose mission is to secure land and buildings for use as affordable housing in the South Etobicoke area.
On December 16th, 2025 prior to appointing him as the Chair of CreateTO, City Council approved paying up to $50,000 of Bruce Davis’ legal fees. When the City of Toronto’s Solicitor was asked if she had ever heard of this type of payment for third party legal fees, her response was that she had not in her long career with the City. In effect, Bruce Davis’ costs are being paid with our own tax dollars, so we are having to fund both sides of this lawsuit. Through this Anti-Slapp motion, NTI faces the risk of substantial legal costs and financial consequences that could threaten our ability to continue this fight and act on behalf of our community.
Councillor Amber Morley’s Anti-SLAPP Threat: What Residents Need to Know
We expected our elected councillor - and a Deputy Mayor of Toronto - to fulfill the fundamental duty of elected office: to represent the people who elected her.
City staff recommended a shelter at 66 Third Street. But staff do not make the final decision - City Council does. City Councillors have the authority to challenge where shelters are located, demand answers and details that affect their ward and propose alternatives.
Amber Morley has repeatedly claimed that she was unable to do anything about the siting of a homeless shelter at 66 Third Street. That is not true. As the elected Toronto City Councillor for Ward 3, Morley has a voice, a vote, and the ability to advocate for her constituents, powers she regularly exercises on other issues. In the case of 66 Third Street, however, she chose not to use that influence to seek relocation of the shelter.
Despite thousands of letters and petition signatures, numerous meetings, and credible alternative sites being presented, Morley continued to tell New Toronto residents that she was powerless to change the decision. Instead, Morley addressed City Council supporting the shelter at 66 Third Street and calling on councillors to move forward with urgency.”
She was not powerless; she was our elected representative. We expected her to challenge, question, advocate and exercise independent judgment on behalf of the community she was elected to serve. Instead, residents were left feeling that her personal position took precedence over meaningful representation. And when our community ultimately turned to the courts to challenge the process and her conduct, she dismissed our claim as “vexatious” and “frivolous.”
Our claim has never been about opposing support for vulnerable people. It is about the rule of law, fair process, meaningful public consultation, and government accountability. It is about the right of residents to ask a court to determine whether their government followed its own laws, respected its own by-laws, and acted within its legal authority.
But before our case has even been heard, NTI is now facing a David versus Goliath battle marked by a significant imbalance in resources and power.
NTI has no paid staff. We receive no government funding. We are ordinary residents and volunteers who have spent more than two years advocating for transparency, accountability and genuine public consultation regarding 66 Third Street.
But this is bigger than NTI. It is about whether ordinary residents can question the actions of the government, seek an independent determination from the courts, and stand their ground when they believe something is wrong - without being financially crushed for doing so, or whether we will be forced to end our case before the issues are ever decided.
Our directors have accepted significant responsibility and personal risk. Our volunteers have contributed thousands of hours. Thousands of residents have written letters, signed petitions, attended meetings, donated and stood behind this effort.
We will not quit. We will not be intimidated into abandoning our principles. And we will not willingly allow financial pressure to silence this community. But determination alone cannot fund a legal battle.
One of several mature trees removed recently
How can you help?
We urgently need the support of people who believe that fairness, accountability, the rule of law and meaningful public consultation matter.
We are asking you to make the most generous contribution you can to the New Toronto Initiative.
Every contribution helps ensure that this case has the opportunity to be determined by the facts and the law and not by which side has the deeper pockets.
And it sends an important message: community voices matter, residents have the right to hold this government accountable, and ordinary citizens should not have to surrender simply because the other side has greater power and resources.
The stakes have never been higher. Please help ensure that New Toronto’s voice is not silenced.
Please stand with us and help continue this fight.
We are deeply grateful for your support.