Pope Squat - Vasyl Memorial

Vasyl was a Refugee from Ukraine. Before ending up at the Pope Squat, he was injured while working for an unscrupulous contractor in High Park and lost an eye. When the contractor claimed he could get him deported if he tried to seek worker's compensation, Vasyl believed him. Vasyl also couldn't get welfare because it would prohibit him from sponsoring his daughters to come to Canada. He ended up on the street, and somehow came upon the Pope Squat. He continued to live in Parkdale after the Pope Squat was evicted. In January 2004, tragically, Vasyl took his own life. In a final insult, the City of Toronto refused to pay for his funeral as they (in this case wrongly) believed he was a non-status person. His body remained in the morgue as his daughters were too destitute to pay for him to be returned to Ukraine.

This memorial was erected outside of the Pope Squat in his honour.