CLEANING UP OUR STREETS REQUIRES MORE THAN LAW ENFORCEMENT

Futurists in the 1950s often portrayed the city of tomorrow under a
giant, climate controlled dome, where it was never too hot or too
cold, where rain and snow were collected for drinking water but never
reached the ground.

Architects have adapted a version of that vision with indoor malls
where shoppers can spend their days in climate-controlled comfort
regardless of the storms that swirl outside.

Now a group of Vancouver merchants have adopted a similar approach to
what they perceive to be the hostile environment created by
aggressive panhandlers and drug addicts.

They hired a security firm to create a hassle-free zone around their
businesses on a section of Granville Street. Not surprisingly, they
are already seeing positive results. But like the dream of a massive
bubble to protect us from the weather, any notion that we can solve
the problem of aggressive panhandling on a city-wide basis by simply
erecting barriers is best left in the realm of science fiction.

The tourism industry is trying to infuse this old problem with new
urgency after reports that potential convention business is at risk
because of the number of panhandlers bothering tourists and the
amount of open drug use on our streets.

There is little doubt this is a tough time to be in the convention
business. Competition from other centres is fierce. The rising value
of the Canadian dollar has increased costs here relative to many of
our competitors. Our booming economy has also put pressure on labour costs.

At the same time, continuing uncertainty over pending passport
requirements at the United States border may be making it difficult
for American organizations to commit to Canadian venues.

So anything that erodes our reputation as a safe city to visit,
whether real or merely perceived, is a serious concern.

No one, whether just visiting or living here permanently, likes to be
accosted by panhandlers. Even the sight of someone quietly begging or
sleeping in a doorway or using drugs can be off-putting.

But Vancouver is not alone in dealing with these problems. All urban
centres have homelessness, drugs and street crime. If there is a
difference between Vancouver and American cities, it is that drug use
is more visible here in part because of the approach we have taken to
deal with this ubiquitous scourge.

However, the Safe Streets Act, passed by the provincial government
last year, has resulted in dramatically fewer complaints of
aggressive panhandling to the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement
Association.

But aggressive begging and open drug use are manifestations of other
serious issues, not just problems in and of themselves.

As with homelessness, the reasons people end up begging on the
streets are manifold. Some suffer from drug addiction and mental
illness and lack the capacity or tenacity to gain the help they need
from social service agencies.

Social activists like Jean Swanson of the Carnegie Community Action
Project argue persuasively that successive provincial governments
have allowed basic welfare rates, which have not been raised in more
than a decade, to erode to the point that people in real need have no
choice but to beg for further assistance.

That said, we need a police presence to protect tourists and
residents alike from any kind of aggressive behaviour. But a
longer-term solution to the begging and open drug use will have to
come through addressing the problems of the people engaged in those
activities, not just those offended by them.