Taxpayers will foot the bill for the cleanup of St. James Park following the eviction of about 100 Occupy Toronto protesters Wednesday, says Mayor Rob Ford.
"We don't know what the numbers are, but unfortunately the taxpayers will have to pay for this," Ford told reporters at a city hall news conference. "I don't know what else we can do."
Toronto police officers moved in on a makeshift camp set up at St. James Park early Wednesday morning, six weeks after protesters first arrived at the site.
By Wednesday afternoon the park had been predominantly cleared and the cleanup had begun.
The grounds were muddy with little grass in sight, raising concerns about the cost of restoring the park.
"The cleanup is ongoing and we won't have a sense of the cost until the work is completed," City Manager Joe Pennachetti told the press conference. "It will take a few days."
Pennachetti said once all the tents and structures have been removed from St. James Park, city crews would winterize the park's sprinkler system, which ordinarily would have been done by now.
He said protesters who were unable to remove their property from the site would be able to pick it up. Information on where to do so would be posted on the City of Toronto website in the coming days, Pennachetti promised.
"Tents and other belongings have been numbered and inventoried, so they can be claimed," he said.
Ford said protesters would not be given an opportunity to relocate.
"The protest is over and I'd like to keep it that way," he said. "If they do go to another park we will ask them to leave immediately."
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