Shortly before 10 a.m. on Tuesday 9 July 2019, Toronto police and city bylaw officers raided the CAFE dispensary on Harbord Street near Spadina Avenue, clearing out its contents before barring entry to the property.[1] Jeff Brodie, who said he lived in the building, was removed shouting that officers had no right to kick him out of his house, and a CBC camera caught an officer shoving him after warning he could be arrested.[1] Cannabis and cash were seized, and the city’s plan to place concrete blocks outside was dropped that day because overhead wires made the lift impossible.[1]
The city had turned to giant cement blocks in June after steel doors and barred entryways failed to keep raided shops closed.[2] A legal loophole had stopped officers barring dispensaries that doubled as residences, and a bill closing it received royal assent that month, while about a dozen illegal storefronts were still operating.[2]
That July week, Municipal Licensing and Standards closed all four CAFE locations on interim orders under the provincial Cannabis Control Act and stacked 4,000-pound concrete blocks outside.[3] By Thursday night the Harbord Street blocks had been hauled away by heavy machinery, which the city called theft and police investigated as such, while a man had to be rescued on Wednesday after being trapped inside one blocked shop.[3] The same night, the Bloor Street location had its lights on and its garage door open behind the blocks.[3]
The blockade battle cost $361,459.49 in labour, engineers and security, paid from provincial enforcement money rather than city funds.[4] City officials said CAFE’s owners were repeat offenders believed to be making millions in illicit sales, and staff kept selling on the sidewalk outside the blocked stores.[4] Police eventually raided the shops again and arrested 17 people, including a 16-year-old boy, on charges including unlawful sale and distribution of cannabis and unlawful possession of criminal proceeds.[4]
