MOST ON THE STREET ARE PROBABLY GOING TO STAY THERE

We live in a strange world.

Illicit drugs are by definition illegal but we commit enormous public
resources to make it easier and safer to use those drugs, all the
while cracking down on the gangs that are making a killing (no pun
intended) distributing those very same drugs.

The courts have said it is a constitutional right to sleep in parks
(at least in Victoria), never mind that it goes against land use
bylaws. You try having a number of people tenting in your backyard for
a period of time and watch how fast the bylaw enforcement officer shows up.

Most of these weird happenings are centred on people with drug
addictions, along with mental illness and/or personality disorders and
arguably are not really competent to make basic life decisions. These
are the hardcore homeless and left to their own devices they tend to
exist in a basic animal-like survival mode in any hidey-hole or
makeshift shelter they can piece together.

We have largely been spared the disaster that is the Downtown Eastside
in Vancouver where thousands of addicted and broken people congregate
in an area much smaller than the City of Duncan. Hundreds of millions
are spent each year trying to keep these people alive and in some
semblance of humanity.

In Victoria the debate is about a fixed location for a needle exchange
but no one wants to be a neighbour to where these folks congregate.

It is not possible to overstate the destructive impact on a
neighbourhood caused by a crowd that has lost nearly all social
inhibitions and cannot or will not perform basic body functions in an
appropriate manner.

Yet, there are those who insist it is only right the imposition takes
place.

Many efforts are being made to house the homeless and there is a hope
that once settled in a stable environment these people can be
channelled into appropriate treatment. But, I'm not sure if it will
lead to many individuals transitioning into private life outside of a
supervised shelter.

There is this fiction that homeless people are just ordinary folk on a
bit of a run of bad luck. With a helping hand, it is said, they will
be on their way, living like the rest of us and paying for their own
keep with a real job.

I doubt that is true for the vast majority of hardcore
homeless.

If we want these people off the street and away from trouble, we had
better be prepared to commit long-term resources.

I suspect we need to accept that they are likely to require supervised
care for the rest of their natural lives.

Response From the Left

Blame the victims, make it their own fault that they are handicapped,
addicted, mentally ill, temporarily or permanently in poverty, then
you can feel good about not asking wealthy individuals and profitable
corporations to pay taxes to help the disappearing middle class pay
for a solid social safety net that is everyone's right.