IT'S TIME TO ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING

Is crime a byproduct of drug addiction? Or is it prostitution? Or does
poverty drive a woman to sell herself? Do they do it for food? Drugs?
Or are the drugs to ward off the depression because of the poverty.

At this point, it no longer matters.

We have a problem with the drug trade.

We have a problem with hookers.

We have a problem with property crime.

We have a problem with poverty.

Say that over and over to yourself. Write it down and put it on the
wall. And don't forget it.

The reason this newspaper publishes three-part series on poverty and
special reports on sex-trade workers is because we firmly believe that
ignorance is the greatest obstacle in combatting any one of these issues.

When the cops told us that the killings in Abbotsford were
drug-related, we asked for assurances. Then we asked again. And again.
And finally they told us that, in fact, the killings were not drug
related.

When we ran stories about Abbotsford's sex trade two years ago, the
police and city council responded with promises of stepped-up
enforcement and a plan to get the hookers off the street.

Friday's front page shows you the problem is just as evident as ever.
More, in fact.

And when the Salvation Army wanted to open a bridge house to help more
people from its downtown Cyril Street location, we supported them. But
the bureaucratic foot-dragging has so far prevented that from happening.

Is there a feasible, workable solution for any of these problems? Not
that we've heard. Is the status quo working? No.

Instead, we have leadership in this community that has become adept at
obfuscation. In response to the hue and cry, they inflate the number
of visitors at the Berry Festival in a lame attempt to make us believe
that people aren't disgusted by this city's downtown.

They try to tell us that police foot patrols downtown have dispersed
the hookers when we all know the sex trade still flourishes there.

And we know that our city council remains opposed to any comprehensive
plan to provide treatment to our community's addicts.

We may not like these parts of our community, but they are ours to
deal with and your elected representatives are failing miserably.

It's time we called them on it.