with the Toronto police spent over two years on these cases. In the early 2000s, OCAP's activities were denounced by union bureaucrats and some public officials who have objected to their tactics. Flaherty eviction OCAP evicted the Ontario Finance Minister Jim Flaherty from his constituency office in Whitby in June, 2001. By this action, OCAP wanted to demonstrate opposition to Flaherty's policies and to show him personally the effects of being evicted. Office furniture was damaged and some OCAP members were arrested. In response, the Canadian Auto Workers union cancelled its funding for the group. Pope squat OCAP squatted a house in Parkdale at 1510 King Street West, in July 2002. South Parkdale was undergoing a gentrification process and OCAP had identified 35 longterm empty properties. The selected building was chosen because the ownership was in limbo between the city and the province. It was called the Pope squat because of the concurrent visit of Pope John Paul II. The squat was well supported by figures such as Jack Layton and Naomi Klein and the city council passed a motion suggesting the building be converted into affordable housing, but it was evicted in November 2002 by the province. Diet allowance OCAP noticed in 2005 that the social assistance regulations mandated doctors prescribing a diet allowance to people who were claiming welfare benefits. Working with doctors such as Gary Bloch, OCAP ensured people were informed about the allowance. In 2006, the provincial government decided that only people with specific illnesses could be prescribed the allowance. Coronavirus concerns On March 18, 2020, OCAP called for the city of Toronto to repurpose empty buildings into shelter for homeless people so as to minimise the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. See also Poverty in Canada References External links Official website Ontario Coalition Against Poverty - Canadian Political Parties and Political Interest Groups - Web Archive created by the University of Toronto Libraries Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (Wordpress) – Canadian Political Parties and Political Interest Groups – Web Archive created by the University of Toronto Libraries Photographs from the 2000 Queen's Park protest Political advocacy groups in Canada Canadian anti-poverty activists Organizations based in Ontario Squatting in Canada Homelessness in Canada