WHICH ARE THE BAD NEIGHBOURS?

The residents of Odlin Road in Richmond say they won't give up until
they see justice.

They call themselves "the orphans of bureaucracy." Signs planted on
neighbourhood lawns and held up in council chamber demonstrations and
candlelight vigils tell passionately of their fears.

"Help! Help! I'm scared to play outside now," says one, carried by a
little girl.

The kids are scared to play outside because of the single-family house
at No. 10411 -- or rather, the people who just moved in.

Sex offenders? Drug dealers? Chronic wife-beaters? Mass murderers?
Nazi war criminals? Try . . . recovering alcoholics.

The nine residents of 10411 Odlin Rd. are participants in an alcohol-
and drug-rehab program run by the non-profit Western Steps to
Recovery Society. They're regular folks who've had a problem -- and
they're trying to get their lives back on track.

The group home has operated for seven years without complaint on
nearby Adams Place, but had to move to bigger premises in order to
meet new licensing regulations.

"The people who lived next door have written testimonials to say we
have never been anything but good neighbours," says executive director
Vickie Engdahl.

But that hasn't stopped neighbours at the new location from bringing
out the NIMBY Welcome Wagon -- regular candlelight vigils, held
outside the house.

"We don't feel safe. All of this community will be scared," says
protest organizer Winson Lam.

Mother-of-two Annie Lee says she's especially worried about the old
folks.

"There are many seniors who have expressed they would stop going to
the park for fresh air for fear of their own safety," she told
Richmond city councillors. "Why should we become prisoners within our
own homes?"

It was one of the organizers who pointed out that 90 per cent of the
protesters are new Canadians. Many of them have lived in this country
for less than a year.

What can you say? Perhaps it wasn't made clear in the citizenship
booklet. In Canada, you get to choose a lot of things -- but you don't
get to choose who lives on your street.

The residents of 10411 Odlin Rd. are not criminals. By all accounts,
they're model neighbours. And that's more than you can say for the
people involved in this sad, selfish campaign.