27642 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

And the unions assume everyone in the union wants to receive their political rallying documents. A private company is not all that keen to veer into political matters.

Unions are concerned the Cons will stop the NDP’s union-only contract awards for infrastructure and other projects. Thst will lead to thousands fewer unionized workers, but the workers won’t have to pay union dues when re-hired as non-unionized.

You know, what’s also interesting, is union jobs aren’t even desirable as much as they once were. Private positions are paying more now, but you also can’t muck around.

[LJ]

Would you vote the way your union told you to vote? I wouldn't, unless I agreed with their choice.

 

Are we saying union members are so weak-minded they must be told how to vote?

[dasmo]

Would you vote the way your union told you to vote? I wouldn't, unless I agreed with their choice.

Are we saying union members are so weak-minded they must be told how to vote?

They are propagandized and provided the choices. For a chunk, they don’t care so will take the easy way, for another chunk the propaganda will work. For another chunk they are alll in with their team and are simply reminded to vote. Nothing to do with weakness. You could see this happen when some folks tried to speak on the legislative lawn about the dangers of SOGI materials in our schools. They created an entire straw man campaign “No Space For Hate” that brought out so many people full of hate, the police had to shut down the talk. That is the power displayed right there.

[dasmo]

What needs to be leaked is what those inside channels are saying.

[Beacon]

 

LETTER: Neighbours fed up with Central Saanich supportive housing

Residents have had to endure threats and constant disturbances from tenants of the building

Kim Oschipok a day ago

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A heavy police presence outside a supportive housing complex in Central Saanich.Harry Corro/Peninsula News Review

I live in the same lot as the Pacifica Housing building. I want the media to know the things we who live in the neighbourhood have had to go through living next to this building.

We have had to endure threats from the people who live in the housing, being yelled at and called names. We have seen people fight, and yelling in the middle of the night from possible visitors to that building to get up. Residents of that building smoking crack on our property while being told by their staff when confronted that crack is legal. There have been passed-out people on our lawn, once again being told by staff they can sleep where they want.

When we complain to staff we are told we need to learn about mental health. I am quite aware of mental health as I also work in that scope. Those next door have to hear police vehicles and sirens every night. The residents go through our garbage in the middle of the night, throwing it all and screaming. We live next door and pay a lot of rent to be there.

That building was not supposed to be the Aurora owned by Pacifica Housing when we moved in or we were not told so. If I knew I would not have moved from my old residence to pay $500 more a month and have to deal with this mess. The last incident had 30 police, swat guns out, dogs, and street closure.

I think everyone should be aware of what happened to the people in the next apartment and how it has affected our well-being.

Kim Oschipok

Saanichton

 

 

 

https://www.vicnews....housing-7567236

 

 

[Victoria Watcher]

Once again, we are giving at least some tenants a level of autonomy that they refuse to or can't handle responsibly.  That should come with actions to rectify.

 

I've already said it a million times here.  You cannot talke a formerly long-term homeless person and give them an independent apartment with no curfew and limited guest restrictions.   It's a recipe for disaster.

[Mike P.]

I really like this platform, but it's a shame that most of Southern Vancouver Island will read it, silently nod their heads in approval - and then vote Orange anyway.

One can hold out the hope that despite Southern Vancouver Islands historical inability to read the writing on the wall and vote strategically in provincial elections, Rustad will take the House, and simply make it so.

Hopefully the historically Liberals-voting Okanagan will save us from another 4 years of disgrace.

Edited by Mike P., 08 October 2024 - 04:00 PM.

[Mike K.]

It looks like the latest polling from Leger has a bump coming in for the NDP from the interior, so maybe the support is converting over to the NDP. Still hard to say.

Of course, the popular vote, which the polls are providing, does not translate into seats won. You could have 35% of the popular vote and win the election, even though your competitor has 40% or more.

[Victoria Watcher]

It’s something Our Place’s CEO Julian Daly is confident will happen soon.

 

“It’s our expectation that everybody that’s on Pandora, will be indoors probably by the end of the month,” said Daly

Outside on Pandora there are noticeably fewer tents.

 

More people have shelter thanks to the province funding more spaces, and community leaders renewing focus on the block after a paramedic was kicked in the face while on a call there in mid-July.

 

“This has been a team effort,” said Victoria Police Chief Del Manak. “Every single person deserves a roof over their head.”

 

Once those camping on Pandora are into housing, the city has plans to fence off the sidewalks for remediation.

 

 

https://cheknews.ca/...timism-1218126/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 08 October 2024 - 05:08 PM.

[Beacon]

 

It’s something Our Place’s CEO Julian Daly is confident will happen soon.

 

“It’s our expectation that everybody that’s on Pandora, will be indoors probably by the end of the month,” said Daly

Outside on Pandora there are noticeably fewer tents.

 

Things that have been said 100x before, for $400 Alex

[LJ]

Till the next batch arrives.

[mbjj]

There's been a tent on the stretch of Fernwood between Central School and the Shell gas station for weeks, if not months. Often there are a group of people sprawled in the covered bus shelter there. I imagine people will just move their tents farther away from Pandora. 

[Victoria Watcher]

After firearm report, a call to close housing facility in Central Saanich

 

The call comes after a police incident that the facility operator says was just as alarming for staff and residents of the Aurora as for neighbours

 

 

https://www.timescol...saanich-9645032

 

 

 

 

A supportive housing facility in Central Saanich has drawn the attention of B.C. election candidates, including one who is calling for it to be closed.

 

Police arrested a man in late September at the Aurora at 7606 East Saanich Rd. after responding to a report of a person with a firearm in the building. The incident led to the building’s evacuation and the closure of East Saanich Road.

 

Officers with the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team responded and crisis negotiators were brought in.

 

The B.C. Conservative candidate in Saanich North and the Islands said neighbours are fed up with the facility. Neighbours are “living in fear” and describe “an ongoing parade of ambulance and police cars” at the building, said B.C. Conservative candidate David Busch. “Maybe we try new management, but if management cannot fix the problem and have them be good neighbours, then the facility has to close,” he said.

 

Carolina Ibarra, CEO of Pacifica Housing, which operates the facility, said while the weapon involved turned out not to be a real firearm, the September incident was “very alarming,” including for residents and staff at the Aurora. The man who was arrested was not a resident of the building and has since been banned, Ibarra said.

 

Staff did the right thing and called Central Saanich police, said Ibarra. She said discussion about closing the Aurora is causing distress for residents of the building, the majority of whom are seniors with a history of homelessness.

 

Ibarra stressed that all the building’s residents are from the Saanich Peninsula and the average age is 53, with 10 per cent over 70.

 

Over half the residents — 53 per cent — are Indigenous people from the Tsawout, Tsartlip and Pauquachin First Nations, she said, while the rest were unhoused or facing eviction in Central Saanich or Sidney before they moved into Aurora, which does not house people with complex needs.

 

 

 

 

 

The man who was arrested was not a resident of the building and has since been banned, Ibarra said.

 

 

These facilities should not allow visitors, period.  Ever.  If you want visitors get your own (non--subsidized) housing.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 11 October 2024 - 03:42 AM.

[Mike K.]

Does Our Place permit visitors?

[Mike P.]

These "wet" places should not exist in the first place. You want to live in subsidized housing? Get your f* act together. It should be either that or labour camp.

Edited by Mike P., 11 October 2024 - 05:32 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

More than 30 people gathered in Parksville, by its city hall, on Friday and demanded that its council ensure there will be an overnight winter shelter for the homeless this winter.

 

“We are tired of Parksville not making a plan to have a proper shelter for those that are living on our streets,” said Jane McCormick, a rally organizer who is also part of Moms Stop the Harm. “Last year we lost seven people and at least one as far as I know died because of the cold.”

________________________

 

“If there was a dog on the corner in the freezing rain without protection from the elements, emaciated you would have tons of people calling different agencies to get help for that animal, but if it’s a human being who’s also in a vulnerable position people just drive by,” said Tina Nielsen, an advocate for the homeless.

 

Those at the rally say many in the community believe there should be services for the unhoused and the city needs to make sure it happens before anyone else dies in the cold.

 

 

 

https://cheknews.ca/...housed-1218780/

 

 

 

 

So a couple things.  7 died last year only 1 of exposure.  Presumably the other 6 died from drug overdoses or other causes.

 

The dog comparison isn't valid, for obvious reasons.  

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 12 October 2024 - 04:43 AM.

[E2V]

Housing yourself is a human responsibility.

[Beacon]

More shelter and services in other cities is a good thing - less will come to Victoria.  We should do other Provinces' next.

[Victoria Watcher]

Victoria man blasts city's inequality after 3-year housing search

 

Amid political push for solutions, British Columbians struggle to find mental health and housing support

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...earch-1.7350788

 

 

 

For three years, Riley Johnson says he has struggled with homelessness and complex mental health challenges — calling every resource he could find to try to access support.

 

But after years of searching for help in his hometown of Victoria, B.C., Johnson, 31, feels no closer to stability than he did after first finding himself homeless in the wake of a job loss and breakup in 2021.

 

"It seems like once you don't have housing, then there's just nothing that anybody can do for you," said Johnson, who has been met with long wait lists and few answers when seeking help from government and charitable resources across the city.

 

Unable to afford housing while making minimum wage and paralyzed by the years-long wait to access long-term support, Johnson, who has borderline personality disorder, says the situation has escalated his issues with depression and suicidal thoughts, sometimes landing him in emergency care. 

 

_______________________________

 

Johnson had been living in Vancouver with his partner, where he worked at restaurants and bakeries and as a freelance makeup artist for films. But in 2021, when he lost his job and his relationship ended, he found himself unable to afford any of the rental listings he saw. 

 

He moved back to his hometown of Victoria, where his mother still lived. He was able to stay in his mother's dining room, a temporary shelter that prevented him from having to sleep on the streets.

 

That temporary solution has become Johnson's reality for the last three years. In that time, with housing insecurity taking a serious toll on his mental health, he's sought care about five to six times in the last three years at the Royal Jubilee Hospital psychiatric emergency unit. 

 

Each time, he says he was discharged within less than a day. Johnson feels the staff were dismissive of his mental health challenges and the danger he poses to himself due to his housing instability being a significant factor in his mental health.

 

He said they gave him info sheets with market housing and hotel options that are more than he can afford.

 

"It's just hopeless because you talk to these people, and they say straight up, like, 'I know it's supposed to be my job to help you, but there's just actually nothing,'" said Johnson. 

 

 

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...earch-1.7350788

 

Meanwhile, Johnson has recently started a new job as a tailor and hopes to get into selling hair care products — and that someday soon, it might be enough to help him take steps toward stability.

However, he's lost hope that support for his mental health and housing challenges will come his way.

"If you cannot get help in the capital city of British Columbia, where can you get help?" he said. "Like, it's Teslas 'n tent cities. It's freaking insane."

 

 

 

 

 

I really don't know what this guy wants.  Other than government to take care of him.  He's 31, has no dependants, appears to be able to work.  Has a place to stay now.

Get out there and work 50 hours a week. 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 12 October 2024 - 07:43 AM.

[Matt R.]

I assume he would appreciate some proper medical care to diagnose and treat his mental health issues, but that is largely impossible these days.