WARMINGTON: ‘Zombies’ on TTC show just how far Toronto has fallen

While today's opportunistic politicians give themselves raises, former Metropolitan chairperson Paul Godfrey warns the city is 'slipping away' and people are 'leaving and going somewhere else'

Published Aug 25, 2026  •  Last updated 19 minutes ago  •  4 minute read

Seeing a person on the TTC slumped over in the 'fentanyl fold' position has become commonplace.

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Move over, The Walking Dead. This is the flopping dead.

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But these are not actors, and this is not Halloween. These real people often look like corpses in the seat next to you on the TTC subway or streetcar. Thankfully, they usually are still alive. But they can be so still and awkwardly positioned that it can be hard to tell sometimes.

Seeing a person on the TTC, or on a street, or on a park bench, slumped over in the ‘fentanyl fold’ position with their head down to the floor in the weirdest contortion possible has become so commonplace that people just shrug their shoulders and go on about their day.

It may be ‘The Better Way’ for some drug users. But it certainly isn’t for those just commuting to work, home, or school.

This not normal. Or acceptable.

In Toronto, people now just step around, or over zoned-out junkies while not being sure if they are still breathing. They may still be with us, but even they likely don’t recognize themselves because they are so high and spaced out. Their brain doesn’t tell their body what to do. The drugs do that. That’s why they don’t look normal as they are slumped over. People have compassion for others in a state like this, but they are also inconvenienced because of it and realize this drug addict, or his or her supplier, has no compassion whatsoever for them or for anybody else.

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It’s their transit system to do whatever they want on. Eat, sleep, yell, panhandle, intimidate, threaten, go to the bathroom. Do their drugs. They are the boss. They are in charge. Some will put their feet across the aisle and there is not a thing you can do or say about it. And you will be the bad guy for pointing out this is not working for these human beings or society in any way.

Toronto is ‘slipping away’

“The city is slipping away. Everything is out of kilter now. Nobody cares about it,” said former Metropolitan chairperson Paul Godfrey in a video endorsing Councillor Brad Bradford for mayor.

Saying people would not let their daughters ride the TTC in this current state, Godfrey said is “embarrassed” at what Toronto has become. The city’s leader from 1973 to 1984 said “if they don’t” fix this, “there will be a lot more people leaving Toronto and going somewhere else” and “I’m not sure I want to stay in the city that I love if it’s going to continue being worn away.”

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Like a zombie movie, but normalized in Toronto

While some parts of Toronto often looks like a zombie apocalypse movie, you could not re-create these scenes for a fictionalized account because no actor or stunt person could emulate positioning their body like these addicts do. You have to be on fentanyl to achieve that, and the damage being caused to the skeleton and internal organs is permanent. It’s normalized in Toronto, but something has to give.

“The status quo is untenable,” said Ward 14 Toronto-Danforth candidate for council Caryma Sa’d, who, like Lynne Brooks, has sent me many tragic pictures of this kind of madness this year. “The starting point for the next council must be this kind of despair and disorder can no longer be permitted to unfold on public transit or on the street. Addicts deserve dignity but residents and their children deserve a safe environment. Better treatment needs to be available.”

If Canada’s economy craters due to failed talks that have created a trade war with our best customer and friend America, we could see a lot more of this. In the meantime, politicians line up for their gravy while citizens struggle to fill their gas tanks, pay their mortgages, and go to the grocery store. It’s not their problem. They are doing well. It’s the people they represent who have the problem.

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A lot of these political leaders have served in multiple political houses but treat elected office like it’s a family business. Their parents were politicians, so they follow suit. Their wives or husbands, brothers, sisters or their kids can also line up to be at the trough. None of them ever seem to make life better for anybody but themselves. And you pay — in federal parliamentary pensioner Mayor Olivia Chow’s case, almost 20% more in taxes than before she took office three years ago.

Big raises for councillors

Just last year, council gave themselves a 24% raise. Councillors’ pay went up $33,000 and they now make more than $170,000. Are you getting your money’s worth? Did you get a raise like that? Ever?

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Semi-retirement gig for some politicians

City council has become a great semi-retirement gig for politicians who have grown tired of where they were previously elected to serve, or the voters grew tired of them. This current election cycles as former Liberal government cabinet minister and MP Nate Erskine-Smith is running after failing for a provincial nomination, while longtime Liberal MP Shaun Chen is back home running because he says a car accident makes it hard for him to travel to Ottawa, even though he has gone on further commutes for trips to China.

Dianne Saxe may take the trophy for politician cynicism by admitting she can’t likely beat Mike Layton coming out of politician retirement to get in line to potentially succeed his step mother as mayor in 2030, so she moves to a whole other ward that she has never represented or ever commented on.

Why not? The pay is good. The perks are better. And you are not paying attention — not even to the person smoking crack or vomiting behind you on the streetcar.

But maybe the well-paid people who have let it get this way will be the ones to fix it. Either way, it’s the taxpayers paying for this horror show.

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