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Victoria homelessness and street-related issues


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#27361 delacroixandora

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Posted 08 January 2025 - 06:31 AM

One of the biggest failures in our time is incorrectly labeling issues, to be more politically correct.  It leads to people rallying behind non-solutions

 

Examples: Experiencing Homelessness when it's really an Addiction Crisis or Housing Crisis when it's really an Affordability Crisis

 

If we would just callout issues correctly people could at least rally behind things that would actually help the situation get better.

 

This is one of the most true things I have read in some time. So many conversations I have regarding these topics recognize this, it is truly a shame how broken telephone everything has become. Add in people with limited life experience pushing these incorrect agendas and it just spirals


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#27362 delacroixandora

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Posted 08 January 2025 - 06:34 AM

We only seem to hear of successful goals and metrics when the tide is going the right way.

If downtown Victoria’s business climate were booming or at least strong, the municipality would be praising bike lane construction and its infrastructure investments as having played a role.

We can clearly see the changes to downtown streets have pushed people out of downtown and have reduced demand on local businesses and services, but there is no data from the municipality to hang a hat on.

 

They don't seem to use data much at all, i am starting to see so many infrastructure projects where i would love to see the data that supports the 'safety' concept in which they are acting on. 


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#27363 dasmo

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Posted 08 January 2025 - 08:06 AM

This is one of the most true things I have read in some time. So many conversations I have regarding these topics recognize this, it is truly a shame how broken telephone everything has become. Add in people with limited life experience pushing these incorrect agendas and it just spirals

So true. Orwell called this Newspeak. George Carlin did a great bit on this too. https://youtu.be/hSp...sSBAxScpCY-ivQH

#27364 VictoriaResident

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Posted 09 January 2025 - 12:09 PM

Judging by the attempted PR save from Cool Aid Spokesperson Tracey Robertson, it looks like Angela Moran ran her mouth and revealed too much about the "harm reduction" plans. 

Cool Aid's new $50M complex combines supportive housing with rentals

The supportive-housing section will have a separate entrance controlled by an adjacent office. On the rental-housing side, 70 per cent of the units will be subsidized.

 

 

 

 

The $50-million building was built next to the former Tally-Ho hotel with funding from B.C. Housing, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the Ministry of Education and Childcare, the City of Victoria’s housing reserve fund, Infrastructure Canada, Fortis BC and Island Health.

 

The hotel, which was purchased by the province for $9.3 million and has been owned and operated as a Cool Aid supportive-housing facility since 2017, is being transferred back to the province as part of the financing conditions.

 

Cool Aid has submitted potential redevelopment plans for the Tally-Ho property but the fate of the site will be up to B.C. Housing. There are currently still 22 people living in the Tally-Ho.

 

Out of the 100 rental-housing units planned at Crosstown, which include everything from studios to three-bedrooms, 20 are being rented out at the shelter rate of $500.

 

Of the remaining 80 units, 30 will be rented at market rates while the rest will be subsidized rentals geared to 30 per cent of a renter’s monthly income.

 

The building’s studio and one-bedroom apartments will rent for $500 to $1,600 a month, according to Cool Aid’s website. Two-bedroom apartments will rent for $1,250 to $2,200, and three-bedroom apartments rent for $1,625 to $3,000 a month, the website said.

 

A short walk from the rental side of Crosstown, entry into the complex’s separate 54-unit supportive housing facility is controlled by an adjacent office.

 

Inside, the hallways are covered in protective siding and the cove joints slope into the walls. There are floor drains in every bathroom for flood protection.

 

Associate director of housing and shelters Angela Moran said the building’s supportive-housing section features “an incredible purpose-built design” tailored to the needs of people experiencing homelessness.

 

“You’ll have all the main amenities, which will be food services, the dining hall, an area outside for people to safely use and consume their substances,” said Moran during a recent media tour, pointing to a second-floor balcony accessible only to residents and staff of the facility.

 

Many of Cool Aid’s supportive-housing facilities have some form of outdoor space for people to use drugs, with drug users increasingly favouring inhalation over injection, she said.

 

In a follow-up statement, Cool Aid spokesperson Tracey Robertson said the organization is still working with partners to decide how to incorporate harm-reduction practices into Crosstown’s supportive-housing site and that no details — location or services provided — have been confirmed so far.

 

Most of those moving into Crosstown will be residents of the nearby Tally-Ho supportive-housing site as well as those on a list of people provided through B.C. Housing, not people “directly from the streets,” Robertson said.

 

Cool Aid is planning for supportive-housing residents to move in by March or April, pending discussions with B.C. Housing, Moran said, adding the organization has a 95 per cent occupancy rate at its supportive-housing sites.

 

 

https://www.timescol...rentals-9894813

 

 

 

 

 

Of course.   :badpc:

 

 

:whyme:



#27365 VictoriaResident

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Posted 09 January 2025 - 01:00 PM

This is quite the cottage "industry" we've built up in this area.

 

Cool Aid is (or was very until very recently) advertising for a new senior management-type for something like $102+k. Not bad coin, even by the standards of the local private sector; combined with all those 'middle management' salaries ranging from the mid-70's to $90k plus, I wouldn't think nor does it surprise me that there would be little if any incentive by those concerned to lobby government and end many of these operations, to revert back to involuntary care facilities funded by senior levels of government, i.e. back in the days of Glendale Lodge etc.

Look at their audited financial statements from last year. About 24-28 million spent just on salaries. 


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#27366 dkuitu

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Posted 11 January 2025 - 04:26 PM

DJI_0079.jpeg DJI_0080.jpeg DJI_0073.jpeg DJI_0076.jpeg


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#27367 Mike K.

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Posted 14 January 2025 - 06:58 AM

Dowler Place neighbours have released the following press release:

NEIGHBOURHOOD CALLS FOR CITY OF VICTORIA TO DELAY OCCUPANCY PERMIT AT 2155 DOWLER UNTIL ZONING BYLAWS AND BUILDING REGULATIONS ARE ENFORCED

Despite reports of permit and bylaw breaches at 2155 Dowler Place, the City of Victoria has failed to enforce bylaws at this property.

Residents in the neighbourhood are calling for the City to hold off issuing an occupancy permit until due process is followed and an unpermitted outdoor accessory building that breaches City zoning bylaws is dismantled.

The accessory building in the side yard of 2155 Dowler Place violates the following City of Victoria regulations:

Zoning bylaw violation
To conform with the City of Victoria’s zoning bylaw, an accessory building must be located in the rear yard of a property unless a specific variance is granted for an alternate location for the accessory building. The accessory building at 2155 Dowler Place has been constructed in the side yard, not the rear yard, of the property. City of Victoria Planning Department personnel report there is no record of a variance application or approval.

Accessory building constructed without a permit
The accessory building is not included in the approved development permit application for 2155 Dowler Place. Because the post-and-beam structure with metal roof exceeds 10 square meters (it is approx. 60 sq. m.), it requires a building permit. City of Victoria Building and Inspections department personnel report there is no record of a building permit application submitted or approved for this accessory building.

Foundations of unpermitted accessory building are on public property
Foundations of the unpermitted accessory building are located on a parcel of land that is public property. No information has been provided by the City of Victoria regarding the Land Use Agreement or easement granted to the property owner for use of this parcel of public land adjacent to their property.

This is the second time the neighbourhood has demanded the City enforce its own bylaws at this property, owned by SOLID Outreach Society and purchased in May 2024 with $300,000 provided by the City of Victoria. Construction has been underway at 2155 Dowler since July; however, the building permit for the renovation project was not approved and issued until October 18, 2024. Permits were pulled only after neighbours filed multiple complaints with the City over a six-week period and then went to the media with their findings.

Gary Streight, an architect and resident of North Park, is perplexed by the City’s apparent leniency regarding construction at 2155 Dowler.

“It was remarkable to watch SOLID launch into this renovation project seemingly without any acknowledgement they may require permits for the work they were undertaking. It’s also concerning to see the apparent reluctance of bylaw services to intervene to enforce City of Victoria bylaw regulations,” Streight says.

“Building Permit approvals would be required by any other property owner in the City of Victoria prior to starting construction. Given the involvement of the Mayor’s Office in the access hub at 2155 Dowler Place, it is surprising work there would start without the proper permits in place,” he continues.

“This accessory building represents multiple bylaw and permitting violations. Although quite noticeable, it has been ignored by the City of Victoria, despite all eyes being on this project. This unpermitted accessory building structure must be removed immediately to correct this apparent disregard of building regulations by the property owner as well as City of Victoria officials.”

Public opposition to the access hub at 2155 Dowler Place has been strong since the city announced it on June 14, 2024. In addition to giving SOLID a $300,000 grant to purchase the Dowler Place property, the City of Victoria committed a further $1.8 million for SOLID to deliver services at the access hub for unhoused individuals with acute drug addiction and mental illness. The opening date was originally announced to be in July 2024; it has been pushed back multiple times.

Mayor Marianne Alto stated at a community meeting hosted in July by North Park Neighbourhood Association that the city deliberately did not consult the neighbourhood because it was expected they would be opposed. Five weeks after the announcement, council approved a bylaw variation that would allow social-services sites to be rezoned without needing to follow the typical process, including public consultation. Though the mayor publicly denied council had any specific property in mind, claiming it would be a “miracle” if any suitable location were found, council did in fact quietly rezone 2155 Dowler Place under this bylaw. It is currently the only property that has been rezoned as such.

The controversial project at 2155 Dowler made national news in August after a Victoria firefighter, Josh Montgomery, was suspended for a day without pay after writing Premier David Eby a letter opposing the hub due to its proximity to his home out of concern for his two young children.

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#27368 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 14 January 2025 - 05:47 PM

A property at 2155 Dowler Place, which is slated to be an "access hub" to help reduce the impacts of homelessness, has garnered concerns from some North Park residents who say the property is not compliant with city bylaws.

 

Neighbourhood residents are calling on the city to hold off issuing an occupancy permit until due process is followed and an outdoor accessory building they contend breaches city zoning bylaws is dismantled.

 

In June 2024, the city announced they would be providing up to $1.8 million in operating funds for the facility, and they provided a grant of $300,000 to help SOLID Outreach Society, a local homeless outreach organization, to acquire the Dowler Place property.

 

 

https://www.vicnews....ess-hub-7759750



#27369 Blair M.

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Posted 15 January 2025 - 06:11 AM

Can we predict at this point, that the Dowler Place facility has an excellent chance at being the straw that broke the camels back, resulting in the political suicide of the current Mayor and Council?

 

With 95% of the dangerous and illegal activities guaranteed to take place outside of the facility fence (reference Pandora for my statements accuracy), rather it will take place in the surrounding family neighbourhood streets, sidewalks and properties

The negative video, paper, and social media press will be endless, heavily comprised of local families reporting violent crime, fires, assaults, and the inability to leave their driveways.

The unsavoury details of getting their kids to and from school as an extremely dangerous and highly regimented process will play well when voters contemplate the future political careers of the folks currently occupying City Hall. 

 

Does it seem to be the literal definition of political "insanity" and/or "suicide" to allow this facility to actually open its doors?


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#27370 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 15 January 2025 - 06:15 AM

Can we predict at this point, that the Dowler Place facility has an excellent chance at being the straw that broke the camels back, resulting in the political suicide of the current Mayor and Council?

 

With 95% of the dangerous and illegal activities guaranteed to take place outside of the facility fence (reference Pandora for my statements accuracy), rather it will take place in the surrounding family neighbourhood streets, sidewalks and properties

The negative video, paper, and social media press will be endless, heavily comprised of local families reporting violent crime, fires, assaults, and the inability to leave their driveways.

The unsavoury details of getting their kids to and from school as an extremely dangerous and highly regimented process will play well when voters contemplate the future political careers of the folks currently occupying City Hall. 

 

Does it seem to be the literal definition of political "insanity" and/or "suicide" to allow this facility to actually open its doors?

 

I'm sure it will not change much.



#27371 delacroixandora

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Posted 15 January 2025 - 06:39 AM

I'm sure it will not change much.

sadly true - Bet365 odds are that is simply another notch in the post at this point considering the list before


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#27372 Mike K.

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Posted 15 January 2025 - 08:02 AM

Sounds like the latest trend everywhere, not just here, is buying property for use as social services in secret.

In theory, Toronto city staff were supposed to execute the purchase of a large, vacant commercial building in the eastern suburb of Scarborough in late October without anyone finding out about it. For a city bureaucracy not exactly known for its ability to keep secrets, it was a tall order. Before the sale had been completed, a television reporter named Alan Carter was standing in front of the building in question with a story so juicy it ran as an exclusive on Toronto’s CityNews.

Carter had just confirmed his tip — that the city was buying the building at 2535 Gerrard St. E. for “an 80-bed men’s shelter.” The local city councillor, Parthi Kandavel, told Carter he was completely blindsided by the revelation. He shared his concerns, which were in line with those of a growing number of his constituents, who had already begun gathering in the parking lot at a nearby school to co-ordinate their opposition to the plan. Carter said the parents he spoke to weren’t against another shelter in the community, but they felt this location was too close to a school and a daycare, and none of the services that a shelter would typically want at hand existed at all.

Toronto’s mayor, Olivia Chow, gave the story renewed legs the next day when she complained about the fact the location of the shelter had been made public. “The location of shelters remains confidential,” Chow sternly pronounced.

- https://nationalpost...elter-next-door

Instead of “assuring the neighbourhood their concerns would be heard,” Hedger wrote, Mayor Chow “bemoaned the fact that the neighbourhood had been tipped off!”

“These things are supposed to be secret,” Hedger continued, “so no one can oppose them!”


Sound familiar?
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#27373 Barrister

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Posted 15 January 2025 - 09:33 AM

Wonder what happens if the Conservatives manage to get in and make drugs in BC illegal and actually get the RCMP to start enforcing drug laws?


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#27374 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 15 January 2025 - 09:35 AM

Wonder what happens if the Conservatives manage to get in and make drugs in BC illegal and actually get the RCMP to start enforcing drug laws?



It’ll just be like the rest of the country where drugs are still illegal. Less outdoor use. Very little prosecution.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 January 2025 - 09:35 AM.


#27375 Sparky

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Posted 15 January 2025 - 10:01 AM

^ Yes but this is where they could activate involuntary confinement if the powers to be are actually serious about that.
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#27376 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 15 January 2025 - 10:02 AM

They could. But they won’t.

The powers are NOT serious about it.

“The powers” are all government employees with very little incentive to fix anything. They have no skin in the game.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 January 2025 - 10:04 AM.

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#27377 delacroixandora

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Posted 15 January 2025 - 10:16 AM

They could. But they won’t.

The powers are NOT serious about it.

“The powers” are all government employees with very little incentive to fix anything. They have no skin in the game.

 

100%

 

amazing as i have had two conversations with people (fellow dog walkers) in the last week with family members that are in this currently and they speak about this in a positive light. people would accept this we need to realize that the loudest aren't majority


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#27378 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 15 January 2025 - 10:20 AM

SOLID has gone from nothing to a hundred employees in just a few years. After being Alto’s consulting firm clients. The head has been convicted of drug trafficking.

And here we are, taxpayers now funding this operation.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 January 2025 - 10:20 AM.

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#27379 dkuitu

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Posted 16 January 2025 - 05:33 AM

SOLID has gone from nothing to a hundred employees in just a few years. After being Alto’s consulting firm clients. The head has been convicted of drug trafficking.

And here we are, taxpayers now funding this operation.

 

Tell us more.



#27380 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 16 January 2025 - 05:52 AM

Tell us more.

 

screenshot-justice_gov_bc_ca-2025_01_16-08_51_17.png

 

screenshot-justice_gov_bc_ca-2025_01_16-08_50_17.png

 

https://x.com/timthi...8212977/photo/1


Edited by Victoria Watcher, 16 January 2025 - 05:52 AM.


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