Penticton is a lovely place. If you have no firm roots elsewhere and have no real home to go to there are worse places to be. How many ‘drifters’ will be released annually?
How many will have nowhere to go? How will that impact our city? Small numbers can have big consequences. If only two per cent of the released inmates stay in town, that’s still about 150 new problem cases on our streets each year, putting a burden on our social services, shelters, Soupetaria. But is the number two per cent? The city has not even attempted to quantify these questions.
How many of those released inmates will have mental problems, be addicted to drugs or alcohol? Who knows? The city doesn’t. But they should, because they will have to find a way support these new citizens of our wonderful city. How can we go down this path, without even as much as an idea about how we will deal with these and other types of social fallout?
Anna Stolfi
Penticton