ISSUE TAKEN WITH HOMELESSNESS ARTICLE

I have issues with the article in the January 27th edition of the
Hurontarian section of the Citizen newspaper about an information session
that exposes "Dufferin's secret shame". Hard drug use and youth
homelessness are two issues that plague the entire country and not just
Dufferin County. I'm not naive enough to think that our community is not
immune to the effects of these social problems, nor do I believe that the
solution rests solely upon Dufferin County.

I don't think that anyone in this community is opposed to supporting
Dufferin's youth from broken homes, those kids that have suffered physical
or emotional abuse or youth that are trying to escape the drug world. The
problem arises when youths from outside our jurisdiction seeks social
assistance and youths that have chosen a life on the streets rather than
live in a good home environment and follow the house rules.

The Region of Peel and the Town of Caledon have chosen to ignore the
establishment of a "Tent City" of homeless youths on Orangeville's southern
border. The issue was raised this past summer but it wasn't deemed to be
newsworthy enough to receive more than a single article.

Now that there are frigid temperatures in the area many have sought refuge
in Orangeville. Many residents of this "Tent City" are from Toronto,
Brampton and other large municipalities with far greater resources to deal
with homeless youth.

Choices Youth Centre with financial support of the Provincial Government
has attempted to offer a safe haven for many of the homeless youths but its
resources are being stretched to the limits. Even a local business has
opened its doors to provide a warm place to sleep. I think that the owners
of the laundry mat deserve to be recognized for their humanitarian
contribution to help solve this problem. I have to wonder how many of
Dufferin's homeless are sleeping on their floor because the beds of the
local shelter are filled with the homeless youths of other jurisdictions?

Is this a Provincial Government issue because homeless youths are often
transients? I think that when social services became the responsibility of
Municipal Governments they weren't expected to handle cases from other
jurisdictions.

Our Provincial M.P. isn't responsible for Caledon so he would have to seek
an alliance with their M.P. in order to address the problem. Or is this an
issue that should be raised with the Federal M.P. for the Dufferin-Caledon
riding because it affects the entire riding?

The proliferation of hard drug abuse is the testament to the weak Canadian
drug laws and the reluctance of the judicial system to impose harsher
penalties for drug related offences. The meager fines and limited jail time
isn't enough of a deterrent for the grow operators of soft drugs to cease
their operations but just devise better ways of avoiding detection. The use
of soft drugs inherently leads to hard drug experimentation, addiction and
full use.

Municipal Governments have to pay for the short sightedness of the upper
tiered governments with increased policing costs and increased costs to
social programs to alleviate homelessness and hard drug use.

L. Rankin

Orangeville