- [Interviewer] Joseph, we're here in Toronto.
You're sleeping outside.
- I am.
- [Interviewer] It's negative six Celsius.
I don't know what that is in Farenheit,
but I know it's cold.
- It's cold, it gets cold.
Last year, I spent the whole winter outside,
in minus 30, minus 40.
- [Interviewer] Holy...
- That was really hard, but I did it.
Survived it.
It's not like I'm trying to do it on purpose,
but you know, I've been waiting for a decent place
in housing, got my name into places,
and they keep telling me to be patient,
and that's what I'm doing.
- [Interviewer] So now you've been
on the streets for 10 years, you told me.
- Yes, sir.
- [Interviewer] Wow, nobody should live like that.
- Well people do, unfortunately, you know,
whether they should or shouldn't.
The system has to change a bit, I guess
for those people.
- [Interviewer] And you said you were in housing.
- I used to be in housing, yeah.
- [Interviewer] And it was just horrible conditions.
- It was, and I actually went to a housing office
with my worker.
I told them I'm walking away from it.
And they said, well, since you're walking away,
you can still apply for housing, and I did.
- [Interviewer] You told them it was so bad
you saw people get murdered.
- Well, I really shouldn't say that, but yeah, I did.
It was just more or less run by the wrong people.
- [Interviewer] So tell me about homelessness in Toronto,
- Well, what do you want to know about homelessness
in Toronto, (laughs) I mean homelessness
in Toronto is pretty big.
Lot of people are homeless, but a lot of people stay
in shelters, and out of the cold and stuff,
but I personally don't stay in shelters.
I sleep outside, I mean,
I can't breathe inside these shelters, half of them.
I don't know whether it's a condition I have
or what, but I breathe better outside.
I mean, if I had a place, I'd open my window
and probably be able to breathe better,
but, you know, I'm kind of working on it.
It's a work in progress, but--
- [Interviewer] How do we end homelessness?
How do we help somebody like you.
- You can help somebody like me
by getting them a decent place
where they don't have to fear the people thrown
into that place, surrounded by people like that.
And just checked on.
You know, have people check on you, to see how you're doing.
- [Interviewer] So, housing with support.
- Housing with support, for sure.
Because you know, if something goes wrong,
or you have a bad situation, you can call these people
and they'll come and help.
But unfortunately, I didn't have that, so--
- [Interviewer] If you had three wishes, what would they be?
- I wish Jesus came back a little sooner.
I wish, I would just wish everybody could get along
and not dig into bottles and drugs
and whatever the hell they do.
It changes them and it makes them unhappier.
And they fight and they don't get along.
And I just think that people are people,
and we could all help each other,
but we're not doing that.
We're building condos, putting them up really,
really high, in the sky.
You know, sheltering people,
and making them better than we are, actually,
and it shows, and I see it, I see it all the time,
and it's not great.
So my second wish would be just
that everybody got along, you know?
- [Interviewer] Third wish.
- I don't think I'll ever have my wife back.
I wish I were a little closer to my kids.
That's about it, I guess.
- [Interviewer] Well, thank you very much
for talking to me.
- Thank you (laughs).