WISHING WON'T HELP DOWNTOWN

There he goes again. In his years leading this province, Premier
Gordon Campbell has demonstrated a penchant for offering lofty
promises and grand visions for British Columbians.

We are supposed to become the most physically fit people in the
world, as well as the most literate. We allegedly live in the most
beautiful place in the entire world, a 'fact' insisted upon by the
premier. Now, some of these goals and visions might actually be attainable.

Few can quibble with the physical beauty of B.C., and we're already a
fairly fit and literate population compared with the rest of the world.

But I wonder if the premier has overreached in the latest example of
his setting the bar so high it looks entirely out of reach.

Campbell now insists that the problems of Vancouver's Downtown
Eastside will somehow disappear from sight by the time the 2010
Olympics roll around.

In other words, in the relatively short timeframe of just 17 months,
something that has been more than a century in the making will
somehow undergo a Cinderella transformation.

The problems associated with the Downtown Eastside aren't just about
homelessness.

Rather, the area has drawn people struggling with addiction problems
for decades.

For years, the problem was mostly alcohol, and now it is drugs. We
now have a community of people who are struggling with a very serious
health problem and need help.

Does anyone seriously believe all the problems associated with those
addictions will actually disappear before the Olympic Games get here?

The premier made his comments in the context of playing down the
suggestion the international media would focus on the Downtown
Eastside during the Olympics as a natural story angle.

It's hard to see how overseas reporters won't be struck by the
stunning contrast that is Vancouver and its surroundings: magnificent
physical geography nestled beside the jarring images associated with
the notorious area.

Homelessness and open drug use (and not just in the Downtown
Eastside) seemed shocking a decade ago but now seems simply a
depressing part of the scenery.

But newcomers to our province and largest city will likely be jolted
by what they see, both by looking at the snow-capped mountains and at
the many street people and addicts in their midst.

The premier gives the impression that a simple snap of the fingers or
the waving of a government wand will eradicate the mess.

He points to the steady increase in the number of social housing
units as an indication of the progress being made on this front.

To be fair, the Liberal government should be congratulated for some
of the things it's doing to deal with homelessness and drug addiction.

But it's going to take far more than more social housing units (and
Insite and other noble, but limited, harm-reduction programs) to
clean up the Downtown Eastside.

Most people understandably avoid going anywhere near the place.

But you might want to check it out some time because you'll come away
stunned by the sheer despair and menace that shrouds the area.

I actually lived smack in the middle of the area (the corner of
Carrall and Cordova streets) in the late 1970s. Back then, it was a
downtrodden area that mixed mostly public drunkenness with the
nightlife of Gastown.

It was actually an interesting place to reside.

But every time I go back, I'm shocked at what a different place it
has become. The problems of addiction are much more prevalent, and it
has become obvious that old solutions aren't sufficient.

If you can't bring yourself to walk its streets, then pick up a
stunning new book written by a well-known Vancouver doctor who treats
addicts on the Downtown Eastside.

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Dr. Gabor Mate shows that the
problems of addiction are profound and vary from individual to
individual. He paints a portrait of not just a neighbourhood but of
its people, whose escape from it will not happen easily nor over the
relatively short period of time suggested by the premier.

Campbell loves books. I suggest this is one he should put at the top
of his reading list as he takes a vacation this month.

After reading it, he will be struck by the humanity of the area that
Mate so eloquently captures, but he may not be quite as optimistic
that perhaps the biggest single social challenge of British Columbia
will disappear so quickly or so easily.