27617 replies to this topic

[aastra]

 

Ottawa feels like it was half baked, architecturally. I don’t know how to describe it, but it lacks the aura of a capital.

 

Ottawa is the purest example of a designated bureaucratic capital city that you'll ever find. Not to say that the city centre never had its charms. But most of those charms were long ago destroyed by the federal government. Nowadays the downtown is basically a generic Canadian-style CBD, but small-city version rather than a highrise version that would have more energy. Imagine if downtown Victoria had been wiped out completely in the 1960s and 1970s and replaced with lowrise and midrise office blocks.

[Mike K.]

Precisely. It's an awkwardly stunted, indistinct city.

[Victoria Watcher]

Victoria police say one person suffered injuries after they were stabbed in the 900 block of Pandora Avenue Monday afternoon.

 

VicPD says officers were called to the scene around 4 p.m., and a photo posted to a Facebook group showed a section of the sidewalk in the 900 block cordoned off with yellow tape.

 

A police spokesperson tells CHEK News the victim was getting off a bus when the assault occurred.

 

“The victim was transported to hospital with injuries,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

 

Police did not share any other details, including the extent of the victim’s injuries and whether or not it was a targeted incident.

 

 

https://www.cheknews...police-1209068/

[Nparker]

Permanently clearing out the bedlam that is the 900 block of Pandora is long overdue. Also defund Our Place. It does more harm than good.

[Love the rock]

Permanently clearing out the bedlam that is the 900 block of Pandora is long overdue. Also defund Our Place. It does more harm than good.

I think Our Place  funds need to be cut maybe not totally defunded but cut . Stop making Pandora an entrenched community that offers everything from art classes to anything other than drugs free of charge . If all my needs are met why would I ever want to get clean after all it is Our Place not yours .

Our Place needs to change their mandate, free basic food helping people get back to a cleaner life a dry shelter . Counselling and help to those who want to get clean stop enabling the addicts . As for the addicts not wanting to work on their addiction very basic services food , showers ,washers to clean clothes with information on how Our Place can help those who want to leave addiction behind at every free service they offer.  

[Love the rock]

As for those who say addicts will die they already are dying. Basic funding or restructure and change your mandate .

[Victoria Watcher]

The worsening homeless and tent encampment situation in British Columbia has caught the attention of federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who has launched a new attack that blames the policies of the federal Liberal and provincial New Democrat governments for worsening the situation.

 

The new ad shows photos of locations in B.C. cities, like Vancouver, Abbotsford and Kelowna, highlighting the difference between the relatively clear sites nine years ago and the proliferation of tents and homelessness in the same spots today.

 

“It’s everywhere and it’s getting worse every day,” Poilievre told CHEK News.

 

“And B.C. has a double problem in that not only do British Columbians have to live under the economic vandalism of Justin Trudeau, but then it’s compounded by the tax and spend NDP government which is making it even worse.

 

“So that’s why British Columbia probably has the worst homeless problem anywhere in Canada.”

 

Poilievre said his repeated visits to Vancouver Island over the last several months have highlighted the issue for him as well in cities like Nanaimo and Campbell River. In Victoria, tents on Pandora Avenue have returned in even greater numbers after a sweep last month of the area.

 

“It’s a real nightmare,” he said. “And it doesn’t have to be this way. These are the obvious consequences of deliberate, radical, wacko policies of Trudeau and the NDP to drive up the cost of living, and double housing costs while giving out free drugs. We need to reverse all that.”

 

 

https://www.cheknews...ssness-1209464/

[Nparker]

...The new ad shows photos of locations in B.C. cities, like Vancouver, Abbotsford and Kelowna, highlighting the difference between the relatively clear sites nine years ago and the proliferation of tents and homelessness in the same spots today...

Truth.

The 900 block of Pandora in May 2018.

[Victoria Watcher]

Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto says city council wants to prevent some of the issues faced by its most vulnerable citizens, rather than simply dealing with the aftermath, even if it means stepping outside of what's normally seen as a local government responsibility.

 

The City of Victoria is providing $1.8 million in operating funding for a new facility opening in the coming months aimed at addressing the risks and impacts of homelessness.

 

The 5,200-square-foot "access hub" will offer food, harm reduction and overdose prevention services, as well as supports including referrals for wound care and longer-term health issues.

 

Alto said in an interview Friday that the agreement with the non-profit organization SOLID is the first time the city has directly contracted with a single service provider for this kind of wide-ranging set of services

 

The move is part of what she believes is an evolving understanding of what Canadian municipalities have to step up and support, to help those struggling in their communities.

 

"We have spent, over the years, millions of dollars, responding through maintenance, bylaw, policing, infrastructure upgrades," she said.

 

"(We're) dealing with the ramifications of a very challenged health-care system, impossibly unaffordable housing and a lack of housing, … a fairly broken set of social service structures, and as a result of that, the city ends up responding to that, and essentially picking up the tab for that response."

 

Alto said council spent months discussing how it could become more proactive, rather than just responding to problems.

 

"And the argument is that you actually spend less money in the end responding to it if you invest a little money upfront and trying to prevent it," she said.

 

______________________

 

Alto said efforts by other levels of government to increase housing supply are important and appreciated but take time, meaning Victoria needs to do what it can while that work is being done.

 

She said the city originally funded SOLID to offer similar services out of a series of trailers at the beginning of this year, but recently the opportunity presented itself for the organization to buy a building.

 

Victoria also provided a $300,000 grant to help buy the property, which sits on the boundary of three neighbourhoods.

 

SOLID already provides overdose prevention services at seven sites in Victoria, outreach to homeless encampments, and other related services.

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...itizens-9087939

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 14 June 2024 - 05:05 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

A new facility will be opening in Victoria with wrap-around community-based services to address the risks and impacts of homelessness.

 

The facility will be operated by SOLID Outreach Society with up to $1.8 million in annual funding from the City of Victoria. The city also gave a one-time grant of $300,000 to acquire the property at 2155 Dowler Place.

 

The building was purchased for $1.6 million.

 

“We can’t continue to wait for someone to do the job, it’s time now and it’s time now for municipalities to step up,” said Mayor Marianna Alto at a press conference.

 

Alto calls this project unprecedented and says the city is taking a big risk.

 

“This is new ground for us. This is a door we haven’t opened before,” said Alto.

 

A new low-barrier access hub for the city’s unhoused population is opening in the next few weeks, providing many wrap-around services.

 

______________________

 

Executive director Jack Phillips says they expect to help 200 to 300 people a day, with the ability to help up to 50 at one time opened  daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

 

______________________

 

Mayor Alto didn’t hold back her criticism against other municipalities in the region, challenging them to follow suit with this project.

 

“Yes I will call out my colleagues in other municipalities because we know that every municipality has vulnerable residents and it’s just too easy. It’s just too easy to let somebody else deal with that. So if we can do it, so can they,” said Alto.

 

The mayor acknowledge that muncipalities have a responsibility to care for its residents and that “it’s time now for munciaplities to step up.”

 

 

 

https://www.cheknews...ssness-1209608/

[Victoria Watcher]

A fresh haircut is one of those things in life that can make someone's day just that little bit better, yet for the unhoused men around Victoria, it can make them feel human, said John Petersen, who attended Handsome Day at Our Place on Friday, June 14.

 

Petersen travelled from Ottawa to Alberta and then to Victoria, where he lives outside a church on "the main drag," he said. A haircut and free pizza might not seem like a big deal, but they make all the difference in the world to him.

 

 

https://www.vicnews....ictoria-7388934

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 June 2024 - 01:44 AM.

[Daveyboy]

Thats a long drive for a haircut and free Pizza

[Nparker]

The free (re-sellable) opioids in BC helped to seal the deal.

[aastra]

May the rest of us never learn how dehumanizing it can be to go a year or more without a proper haircut.

[aastra]

 

2024:
Petersen travelled from Ottawa to Alberta and then to Victoria, where he lives outside a church on "the main drag",

 

--

 

 

National Post
Mar 23, 2016

If someone is sleeping rough in a doorway, they’re a local who fell through the cracks —- not some out-of-town drifter who came in search of warmer weather and better soup kitchens.

“I think it’s an unfortunate myth that people come here because it’s nice outside,” said Victoria mayor Lisa Helps.

Vancouver city councillor Kerry Jang, a psychiatrist who specializes in homeless issues, laughs at the suggestion. "How do they afford to come?" he said.

"Nobody’s born homeless and travels the country looking for a homeless bed; give me a break," he said.

[aastra]

Somebody should make a note of this moment. It's not often you see such glaring contradictions in these narratives.*

 

*the glaring contradictions are relentless

[dasmo]

Haha. Nothing like FREE DRUGS AND PIZZA to motivate one to ride the rails from Ottawa to Victoria.

[Victoria Watcher]

I think it’s well known almost every province and jurisdiction has bus pass initiatives.

[aastra]

 

I think it’s well known almost every province and jurisdiction has bus pass initiatives.

 

Am I going to believe you or am I going to believe the experts?

[dasmo]

I say ride the rails metaphorically. Of course they get a free bust pass out!