Time for Coun. Susan Stevenson to stop ‘online one-sided attacks’: Agencies

Several high-profile agencies and community leaders have called on city council to step in and stop a councillor’s “attacks” on vulnerable women, homeless people and those who help them.

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Ward 4 Coun. Susan Stevenson’s “consistent targeting” of organizations helping London’s marginalized is harmful, dangerous and contravenes the codes of conduct of council and the police services board, on which Stevenson sits, an open letter to council issued Tuesday claims.

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“We request an immediate cessation of online one-sided attacks on agencies doing the heavy and critical work of supporting London’s most vulnerable community members. If the attacks do not cease, we ask that city council and the London police services board take steps to hold councilor Stevenson accountable for her actions,” the letter states. “Council’s and the police board’s further complicity in her behavior is unacceptable.”

The letter is signed by the co-chairs of the London Homeless Coalition, the executive directors of the London Abused Women’s Centre, Anova and SafeSpace, a board member of Nii’kinaaganaa Foundation, King’s University College sociologist Lesley Bikos and the head of London’s Safer Opioid Supply program, Dr. Andrea Sereda.
SafeSpace sent a separate letter Tuesday calling on advisors to stop the hostile messages on social and other media without trying to speak to organization representatives first.

“Frankly it’s harmful. We’re at a point where we’re concerned for the folks who work for SafeSpace,” the organization’s chair of the board, Rachel Berdan, said in an interview.

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SafeSpace offers help to sex workers, their allies, and other women and non-binary people in crisis. That help includes a drop in space, overnight beds, showers, washrooms and laundry service, and aid getting housing and social services.

The center provides harm reduction supplies and supports decriminalization of sex work.

Stevenson has tried to pull funding from the center before and recently has used social media to step up questions about SafeSpace’s approach to sex work and harm reduction.

Often, her posts appear to be simple questions about accountability. In one recent post, she shows what she says are items at a SafeSpace community table last summer and asks “I am truly curious what Londoners think?”

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She also recently criticized Anova, a shelter and counseling agency for women, and the London Abused Women’s Center in her media posts and comments, the letter from the group of organizations says.

The councilor is putting “immense harmful attention” on the organizations, those they help and those who work for them, under the guise of accountability, the letter says.

“Debate on community issues is reasonable, and even important, in a functioning society. However this disproportionate and unwarranted level of scrutiny is at cross purposes in creating “a safe city for women, children, gender-diverse and trans people, the letter says.

Stevenson’s attacks and questioning of the organizations could stop people from seeking help, the letter says.

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“I was elected to represent my ward and the people in it and there’s a lot of accusations in that letter that I think they need to substantiate,” Stevenson said in response to the letter from the group. “I haven’t shared anything that isn’t publicly available on their website currently, or that they haven’t publicly posted. I’m not attacking anyone. I’m having a conversation that is long overdue.”

Her comments aren’t damaging confidence in the organizations, Stevenson said.

“Look at our streets. There is a question of what we’re doing that’s not working, screaming at us.”

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But Stevenson has never bothered to bring her concerns or questions to SafeSpace, Berdan said.

“We have relationships with city councilors such that if they do have questions, they reach out and ask us. We’re very open to having those conversations,” Berdan said.

In response to The London Free Press questions, Stevenson didn’t outright reject the idea of ​​meeting SafeSpace representatives, but didn’t seem eager either.

“If it’s beneficial, but a lot of it is just an ideological difference,” Stevenson said. “If it’s useful, I’m more than happy to meet and is there space for diversity of opinion? Or is an alternate opinion harmful?”

This isn’t the first time questions about Stevenson’s adherence to the code of conduct has been raised.

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She was reprimanded five months ago for earlier online posts about homelessness.

Formal complaints to council can be directed to the integrity commissioner for council or the police services board, Mayor Josh Morgan said.

“What I see at the end, though, is a request from the agencies to ask the counselor to stop the actions that they have concerns about and it’s my hope that the counselor takes that request very seriously,” Morgan said.

Regardless of intentions, actions can have a negative impact, he said.

“And what I see here, in this letter, are significant and serious impacts that these organizations are saying are occurring based on the councillor’s actions.”

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