SOLUTIONS, NOT CITATIONS, NEEDED ON PANDORA

Making Camping Illegal On The Green Won't Solve The Root Of The
Problem

Every day, in the neighbourhood where I live with my wife and two
year-old daughter, people laugh, cry, drink alcohol, take drugs, crap,
urinate and vomit. Some fight, some make love, some sell their bodies
to pay for unseen addictions and sometimes the police respond to noise
complaints or domestic disputes.

I don't live on the 900-block of Pandora, so most of the time this
human interaction goes unseen and unheard - in my neighbourhood, most
people live their lives behind closed doors.

If we had a home across from Pandora Green, this behaviour would be
visible every day and night, because the people living on that muddy
median don't have the benefit of walls to hide behind or protect them
from the elements or the judgment of those who hurry by.

Of course, because these individuals are some of the most marginalized
in our society, the sudden violence, the open drug use and sheer
desperation are worse here than they are in my neighbourhood. But
ultimately the harms are localized and largely selfinflicted, the
outcomes of poverty and life on our city's streets.

This week Victoria council will consider a bylaw that would make
camping on Pandora Green (and a few other small patches of land) illegal.

The report accompanying the motion suggests this is to protect the
people living on the Green from being hit by vehicles, and there has
been a recent increase in such accidents.

However, if Pandora Green housed a school, we wouldn't evict the
students and shut it down. We would find other ways to keep them safe
- - a mid-block crosswalk or reduced speed limits.

We can agree Pandora Green is neither a safe nor adequate place to
call home. For six years I ran a nonprofit business in this area -
three years on the 900-block of Pandora and three years just up the
street from the former needle exchange on Cormorant Street. I've
witnessed the challenges impacting this neighbourhood first-hand on a
daily basis.

I also saw that closing the needle exchange did nothing to improve the
situation, merely displacing the public disorder and drug use one
block while increasing the risk of disease transmission.

While city hall can't predict the neighbourhood impact of evicting
these individuals from the Green, we have learned that devoting
health-care resources to this problem can achieve real results.

In the few weeks since council first considered this motion, the
provincial government, the Vancouver Island Health Authority, the city
and local social services have significantly increased efforts to
address the needs of the Pandora campers. So far, 52 out of 62 campers
have been put on income assistance, one child has been reconnected
with the Ministry of Children and Family Development and 23
individuals are now in housing. Additionally, nine individuals have
connected with VIHA's Assertive Community Treatment teams.

Given real options to improve their current lot, such as immediate
detox and drug treatment or decent social housing, many of the campers
tell me they would willingly leave the Green.

And while not all the campers might be willing to move on immediately,
it is clear that a sincere, well supported effort to help this
population is already making things better for neighbourhood
businesses, residents and campers.

Ultimately that might be the most hopeful thing about this entire
issue: If we improve the options and lives of the campers, we in turn
improve the outcomes for everyone else in the neighbourhood as well.

That's why I simply can't support a further ban on the poor and
homeless at this time. We need real solutions focused on increased
services, instead of another ineffective displacement strategy that
will simply push these individuals and their challenges into another
nearby street or neighbourhood, affecting a new set of residents or
businesses.

Philippe Lucas is a Victoria city councillor and a research affiliate
with the Center for Addictions Research of B.C.