I have meant to write this letter since Coun. Max Picton’s first egregious comment against homeless people and the article in today’s (June 1, 2018) Western galvanized me. I refer to his remark about not giving people (who incidentally have almost nothing now) too much lest they become dependent on handouts. I think the actual remark was about not feeding the animals, meant metaphorically of course!
Let me remind Coun. Picton that a similar attitude by a 19th-century British government, which refused to send food relief during the potato famine in Ireland, resulted in millions of deaths and the destruction of their agricultural society.
As to having too many such ne’er-do-wells (the currently homeless) housed near a school on that premises, I’d say that all children under the age of, say, 12, should be forbidden to go anywhere near the core downtown area where, heaven forfend, they would run across all those nasty homeless people. On the other hand, there are some serious nutcases among the currently housed citizens with whom apparently children can safely rub shoulders. Perhaps schools should all be located well away from housing of any kind!
I applaud B.C. Housing representatives for their restraint but sympathize with what must be a very frustrating and infuriating attitude among some on city council. Let’s get the modular housing up ASAP; I’ve seen pictures of it and it looks at least as attractive and much less ‘in your face’ than the beginner castles (a friend’s term) that litter the area.
Eva Durance
Penticton