A Toronto father's effort to build a home where his three children with special needs could live safely and independently has turned into a lengthy and costly ordeal, and now he and his wife are taking the City of Toronto to court over it.
Joseph Garrity said he has been building the home with one goal in mind: to create a place where his children can live safely, and to stand as an example of what can be accomplished and give hope to other families. Two of his sons are autistic, and his daughter has a serious seizure condition.
According to the family, what began as a hopeful project became bogged down in a dispute with the city. Garrity and his wife are now suing the City of Toronto for $2.8 million, saying the process left them shouldering burdens they had never anticipated when they set out to build the home.
In their statement of claim, the couple allege the city misled them into believing they could be reimbursed for more than $200,000 in planning and development fees. They say they presented their case first to the mayor's office and later to the city itself, and that all indications pointed to a process being in place for reimbursement.
When those fees were not reimbursed, the family said, they were forced to take on far more than they had planned, assuming the roles of contractor and construction crew themselves to keep the project moving. Garrity argued that community members like his children should be enabled and accommodated to live within their own communities.
In a statement, the City of Toronto said it is aware of the allegations but has no further comment at this time, as the matter is before the courts. The family's claims have not been tested in court, and the city has yet to file its response to the lawsuit.
Advocates say the family's struggle is far from unique. According to the Ontario Autism Coalition, families across the province face years-long wait lists for government-funded housing and often end up struggling financially to ensure their adult children have a safe place to live. One parent said their son had been on a wait list for about 15 years, with no end in sight.