THE HOMELESS AND DRUG-ADDICTED CAN BE ANYWHERE, SO LET'S JUST FACE UP TO IT

Rich Coleman, the B.C. Minister Responsible for Housing, certainly
touched a provincewide nerve recently when he said that Vancouver's
growing homeless population might do better outside the misery of the
Downtown Eastside.

Coleman's push for a new approach makes good sense, since it would
give drug addicts and the mentally ill a chance for a fresh start in
places like the Fraser Valley or farther into the B.C. Interior. But
his philosophy isn't going down well with those British Columbians
who fear a massive influx of Vancouver's homeless into their idyllic
communities.

Funny thing is, the howling from beyond Vancouver's city limits has
drowned out any recognition that the province's homeless are in some
cases already receiving a warmer welcome beyond the intersection of
Main and Hastings.

Case in point: The North Shore, of all places, and specifically, the
City of North Vancouver.

Instead of shipping out his municipality's down-and-out to the
Downtown Eastside -- as suburban politicians have done in the past --
the city's mayor, Darrell Mussatto, says he would rather see these
folks get help and shelter on his own turf, at the city's own homeless shelter.

And Mussatto isn't wilting under pressure from the NIMBYs, who are
especially vocal in this area.

"The City is unique on the North Shore," Mussatto recently told me.
"The old ways of doing things, while inviting, is not sustainable."
Not that things are all hunky-dory north of Burrard Inlet. Drugs,
vagrancy and homelessness are issues that are showing up across the
North Shore -- but particularly near the gentrifying Lower Lonsdale
area, and in the industrial and forested areas close to the waterfront.

Small shanty towns are even popping up. For many of the local
addicts, sleeping in the alleyways, under a bridge or in the woods is
preferable to following the rules that exist within the city shelter.

I've seen first-hand this gloomier side of the North Shore. While
hiking recently through some wooded trails near the city's industrial
zone, I came across several newly-abandoned squats.

And a North Vancouver city worker told me last summer that parks
staff are now vigilant about discarded needles.

This past fall, a mentally challenged young man was found murdered in
the forest just west of Capilano Mall.

It's a disturbing picture that threatens to undermine an otherwise
impressive effort to transform the city into something of a San
Francisco North -- complete with hipster cafes, yoga studios, dense
neighbourhoods and seawalk strolls.

To Mussatto's credit, he's not running from these problems. Like
other civic leaders across B.C, he's coming to grips with the new
reality in this province.

Runaway drug addiction and homelessness aren't simply the domain of
B.C.'s largest city anymore.

They can show up anywhere, even in the Pleasantville known as the North Shore.