25933 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

Campbell River isn’t doing so hot these days, either. We didn’t even stop in their downtown back in October because of the large groups of people loitering.

[Victoria Watcher]

Island Health is warning of a sharp spike in confirmed cases of a rare bacterial disease ­infecting the Island’s homeless population.

 

There have been eight ­lab-confirmed cases — and one death — of haemophilus influenzae type B in people in their 20s to 70s living in Victoria, ­Nanaimo and Parksville since late 2021. A typical year would see one case at most on the Island.

 

 

https://www.timescol...offered-6191816

[Nparker]

Sounds like a government mandated lockdown and forced vaccinations need to be imposed on the affected group.

[Victoria Watcher]

I spent well over 30 years in the justice system as a probation officer and in several other roles.

 

I dealt with thousands of individuals, scores of judges and prosecutors, hundreds of police officers and many offenders and their victims.

 

In the common-sense era of yesteryear, bail was denied if a person was likely to not attend court and/or be a further risk to reoffend. And now we have this!

People who constantly offend need to be locked up and not allowed back on the street until we can pretty much have some sort of guarantee that if they do again reoffend, they will return to custody.

 

Jails are not pretty places and do little for rehabilitation. The one thing they do well enough is give people a time out.

 

It is very imperfect, but it is what we have. If not, more­ ­individuals will be targeted, offenders will be killed by police officers for not being compliant and more front-line responders may end up dead themselves.

 

We have lost enough Conwst. Shaelyn Yangs. Our powers that be must step up and deal with this awful situation.

 

Otherwise, they should be very ashamed, as they are are not fit to be decision makers.

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...ime-out-6194860

[Victoria Watcher]

I don’t remember the part about her shooting the suspect in the initial reports.

https://www.timescol...by-park-6196818




The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. has found no wrongdoing on the part of RCMP Const. Shaelyn Yang after an altercation in which she shot a man and she was stabbed during a sheltering check in a Burnaby park in October.

The IIO, which investigates deaths or serious injuries involving police, said there was an altercation after Yang and a parks worker approached a tent. Yang shot the man and was stabbed. She was taken to hospital and died about 30 minutes later.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 04 December 2022 - 02:56 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Initial report:


Constable Shaelyn Yang, 31, and a parks board worker arrived at Broadview Park, located not far from Vancouver’s eastern edge shortly after 11 a.m. During an altercation, Constable Yang was killed and the homeless man – now a suspect in her murder – was shot and sent to hospital, senior Mounties told a news conference Tuesday evening.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 04 December 2022 - 03:01 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Police released few details about what prompted the altercation and how it unfolded, instead noting that Metro Vancouver’s regional homicide unit is now investigating the officer’s death. The Independent Investigations Office of B.C., which investigates cases where someone is seriously injured or killed during an interaction with police, is also examining the shooting of the suspect.

https://www.theglobe...-in-burnaby-bc/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 04 December 2022 - 03:00 AM.

[Nparker]

An image from my latest report to CoV bylaw "enforcement".

[Victoria Watcher]

Homeless pair describes life on the margins in Quesnel

 

2 addicts share realities of their life from a tent by the river days prior to it catching fire

 

 

“We’re trying to survive,” said the man. “Some of us have been kicked out of the shelter, you know, so we’re trying to live this way. We’ve got nowhere to go. Some of us don’t have family.”

He had a weathered face that no doubt made him look older than he was, probably in his early or mid-20s. He spoke with a nervous energy, a clipped speaking manner, making no eye contact because it seemed he couldn’t focus on one fixed point, but staying engaged in the conversation and was consistently polite.

 

He was born and raised in the Anahim Lake community but confirmed “some of us don’t even have homes, you know. Our family doesn’t accept us because of the drugs we do.”

You have to make your own street family after you are rejected by your blood family or if you have to flee them, said the woman.

 

“It’s sad. I just got back from Vancouver, and it’s bad all over. I have been here a few days, and I can’t believe I’ve got family and friends living in a tent. I just spent five months like this, down on Hastings,” she said.

 

Her voice was thin but clear and articulate. Her face had multiple piercings, but nothing out of the modern ordinary. She made constant eye contact, and were it not for the setting itself, one would be hard-pressed to think she was anything but a normal young woman.

 

https://www.quesnelo...8ca11b97212fd9a

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 05 December 2022 - 05:38 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Tough approach needed in downtown Victoria

Re: “Encampments hurting Victoria’s reputation,” letter, Dec. 2.

 

This letter brought back memories of several conversations with people on a recent visit to the Hawaiian Islands.

 

Not one single comment about Victoria was favourable, and all said they would never return.

 

One lovely couple (from Nova Scotia) we lunched with said they should round up the junkies (and needlessly homeless) and ship them off to some garrison with barrack blocks on one of the islands until they are ready to enjoy their warranted return to human society.

 

A few tough drill sergeants and disciplinarians would straighten most of them out. I was thinking about people’s rights, etc., but then realized we are paying for their existence anyway, so why not?

 

 

Barry Tateham

James Bay

 

 

https://www.timescol...ospital-6204758

[Victoria Watcher]

Victoria police are hoping jewelry and medical records will help to identify a woman who died after her makeshift shelter went up in flames on Nov. 11.

 

The woman’s remains were discovered after the fire was extinguished alongside a professional building in the 1100-block of View Street, at Cook Street. Black scorch marks from the fire remain on the side of the building, which is lined with rock facing. 

 

Police determined the death was not suspicious but did not release any information about how the fire started. They believe the woman may have been unhoused at the time of her death. 

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...er-fire-6209204

[Nparker]

An image from my latest report to CoV bylaw "enforcement"....

There's more virtue signaling in this response from the CoV than any concrete action

Good afternoon,

 

Thank you for contacting Victoria Bylaw Services. Unfortunately, our officers were extremely busy today were not able to address the subject of your request for service. It will be considered for attendance tomorrow or subsequent days based on the likelihood of the reported conditions continuing to exist. 

 

Kind Regards,

 

Chelsea Lewicki

Pronouns: she, her, hers

Bylaw Clerk

Bylaw and Licensing Services

 

City of Victoria

1 Centennial Square, Victoria BC V8W 1P6

T 250.361.0215

City of Victoria logo - links to victoria.ca home page 

 

The City of Victoria is located on the homelands of the Songhees and Esquimalt People

[Victoria Watcher]

Oh my.

[Victoria Watcher]

No. No. No. There is simply too much entitlement here.





Homeless people on the mid-Island say they’re being left out in the cold, literally, because Oceanside communities don’t have a dedicated place to stay warm.

Helen Hiltunen is relying on people for a warm place to sleep at night but during the day, she’s often cold. She lives in the Oceanside area, encompassing Parksville and Qualicum Beach, which has no cold weather shelters or warming centres.

“It sucks. It sucks big time. I’m cold all the time and now I have pneumonia,” said Hiltunen, who was released from the hospital last week but still requires medication for her pneumonia.

https://www.cheknews...p-warm-1119944/








People with no means of support should not be accommodated. Make your way in this world. Get a job, repair your bridges, lean on friends and family. We can’t take care of all those that abandon those connections.






“The people who live in Qualicum and Parksville are mostly wealthy retirees,” she said.

“Not all of them but a good portion of them are wealthier people, middle class at least to higher income and surely they have the money to put some aside in their taxes. I mean there needs to be a political will to set something up to ask them for it.”



Wealthy retirees that likely worked all their lives. None of them sat on their ass like these folks.

F. You.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 07 December 2022 - 04:16 PM.

[Nparker]

...The people who live in Qualicum and Parksville are mostly wealthy retirees. she said. Not all of them but a good portion of them are wealthier people, middle class at least to higher income and surely they have the money to put some aside in their taxes. I mean there needs to be a political will to set something up to ask them for it...

This is where her argument loses credibility. Many Canadians already pay far too much in taxes for what we receive in return. There is no need to be "asked" to shell out even more.

[Victoria Watcher]

Use the old hospital for the homeless

The Cowichan hospital will abandon its current facility in three years (or so). Rather than razing the building, it should be looked at as a possible alternative to house the homeless from Vancouver Island.

 

Society would have options for the care of people with intellectual challenges. In short, it would become a smaller version of the old Riverview hospital.

 

In addition, it would provide employment for support staff such as health care workers, counsellors and for those in the medical community.

 

Let us not squander this opportunity, and realize that if it is implemented, we will have safer and cleaner streets — which would benefit the tourism industry.

The current system is broken, and a relatively easy fix is staring us all in the face.

 

Let the politicians know that a solution to homelessness is not an insurmountable decision to act upon.

 

Eric J. Ronse

Shawnigan Lake

 

 

https://www.timescol...density-6216779

[Victoria Watcher]

Kori Balaberda wants people to know the full story behind her stepfather, whose body was found in October near Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary, where he had been camping.

 

“I just wanted to change the narrative about him being some random guy in a tent,” she said.

Dave Bergman had a room at Our Place but sometimes went out on his own, seeking solitude, Balaberda said.

 

She said her “Papa Dave” was “just trying to get some peace.”

 

It took a while for him to be identified and for his family to be notified.

 

Balaberda, one of four sisters that he doted on, said she hadn’t seen him for some time. He had been the subject of a recent missing-person investigation.

 

 

https://www.timescol...dfather-6216067

 

“He was ashamed — he was self-medicating with his addiction,” she said, adding her stepfather suffered from depression.

[Victoria Watcher]

The Town of View Royal is looking to restrict camping in 44 parks in the latest version of a camping bylaw, leaving only View Royal Park accessible for those seeking temporary overnight shelter.

 

But camping there would be technically illegal too, according to the wording of the bylaw, which among other things excludes people from erecting shelters within 100 metres of a footpath. There is no part of View Royal Park more than 100 metres from a footpath.

 

 

 

https://www.capitald...ing-bylaw-parks

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 08 December 2022 - 06:04 AM.

[Mike K.]

The Victoria Cool Aid Society is announcing that long-time chief executive officer, Kathy Stinson, will retire in May 2023. Kathy has led the Victoria-based organization since 2005, during which time Cool Aid has grown from an organization of 144 employees to 380 employees in 21 housing, shelter, health, and support service locations. A national search for Kathy’s replacement is underway, led by Leaders International, with the goal of having a successor in place before Kathy departs.



"We recognize the challenge ahead of us in finding someone who can follow in Kathy’s very inspiring footsteps,” said Cool Aid board chair, Janet Donald. “Kathy has played a hugely important role not just in the growth and success of Cool Aid but as a contributor to the not-for-profit sector as a whole. There is no question she will be greatly missed.”



A certified professional accountant by trade, Kathy has dedicated 34 years to the not-for-profit and public sectors, including 14 years as the finance and operations leader for the Boys and Girls Club Services of Greater Victoria. Kathy has served on many boards and committees over the years including Leadership Victoria (6 years), United Way Housing Impact Council (5 years), (BC Non-Profit Housing Association (6 years; 2 years as board chair), Canadian Housing and Renewal Association (3 years), Downtown Service Providers (17 years; 11 years as board chair), and Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness (13 years).



“Working with Victoria Cool Aid Society and an amazing network of organizations and colleagues in the Capital region - all dedicated to providing life changing options for people experiencing poverty, homelessness and other challenges - has been the privilege of my career,” Kathy said. “Supporting our dedicated and compassionate Cool Aid team and growing our health and housing programs to meet the needs of the people we serve has been incredibly rewarding.”



In honour of her contributions to the non-profit housing sector in the Capital region and beyond, Kathy was recognized with a Community Social Services Employers’ Association Legend Award in 2022, a Victoria Foundation Community Leadership Award in 2013, and a Victoria Leadership Award for Partnership and Collaboration in 2012.

[aastra]

 

She lives in the Oceanside area, encompassing Parksville and Qualicum Beach, which has no cold weather shelters or warming centres.

“It sucks. It sucks big time. I’m cold all the time and now I have pneumonia,” said Hiltunen, who was released from the hospital last week but still requires medication for her pneumonia.

 

I'm just waiting for some jerk to mention that other narrative about hospitals being overburdened, overcrowded, and short-staffed...