Jump to content

      



























Photo

Victoria homelessness and street-related issues


  • Please log in to reply
25855 replies to this topic

#18401 Victoria Watcher

Victoria Watcher

    Old White Man On A Canadian Island

  • Member
  • 52,328 posts

Posted 06 July 2020 - 04:54 PM

Supreme Court rulings supersede bylaws, which gives Sooke’s homeless population the right to stay put.




i’m not sure if we owe it to the young black press reporter to cut her some slack on her court decision interpretations.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 July 2020 - 04:57 PM.


#18402 On the Level

On the Level
  • Member
  • 2,891 posts

Posted 06 July 2020 - 05:05 PM

Tait and Helps are in a rather rare position of discarding their mandate and focusing on a particular segment of the population that is of interest to them.

 

If Helps moves up to Provincial politics, it won't be as easy.  She will be in for a rude awakening when she is told that everyone matters.



#18403 JimV

JimV
  • Member
  • 1,294 posts

Posted 06 July 2020 - 06:12 PM

Supreme Court rulings supersede bylaws, which gives Sooke’s homeless population the right to stay put.

The SCC decision gives them the right to camp overnight if there is no other accommodation available.  It does not invalidate bylaws requiring them to break camp in the morning.  COV council, and in this case the Sooke mayor, chose not to enforce that kind of bylaw.  Another example of favouring the campers over the tax paying citizens.  I don’t know why twisted fools like this keep getting elected.


  • Nparker, Love the rock, Midnightly and 2 others like this

#18404 Mike K.

Mike K.
  • Administrator
  • 83,184 posts

Posted 06 July 2020 - 06:27 PM

Further to this, I can’t believe the spirit of such a Supreme Court decision would require any person from across the nation or the world, in fact, to be housed/sheltered by the local government representing that person’s chosen outdoor tenting or sheltering space.

Does that make sense? If 250 people from Montreal choose to move to Victoria and live in local parks, they may do so for as long as it takes the local electorate to provide them with an indoor shelter space or a residence?
  • Nparker, Hotel Mike, pennymurphy2000 and 3 others like this

Know it all.
Citified.ca is Victoria's most comprehensive research resource for new-build homes and commercial spaces.


#18405 LJ

LJ
  • Member
  • 12,702 posts

Posted 06 July 2020 - 07:36 PM

^Yes, but if you make them break camp every morning they will soon get tired of the practice.


  • Mike K., Lorenzo, Love the rock and 3 others like this
Life's a journey......so roll down the window and enjoy the breeze.

#18406 rmpeers

rmpeers
  • Member
  • 2,618 posts

Posted 06 July 2020 - 07:41 PM

Tait and Helps are in a rather rare position of discarding their mandate and focusing on a particular segment of the population that is of interest to them.

If Helps moves up to Provincial politics, it won't be as easy. She will be in for a rude awakening when she is told that everyone matters.


I am sure that is her goal, but I can't see a provincial party risking a seat by running her.

#18407 Victoria Watcher

Victoria Watcher

    Old White Man On A Canadian Island

  • Member
  • 52,328 posts

Posted 07 July 2020 - 02:52 AM

^Yes, but if you make them break camp every morning they will soon get tired of the practice.

 

that's the key.  we've gone from breaking camp daily to allowing all day sit-ins.  why?  somehow in the name of covid-19 social distancing?  it makes no sense.


Edited by Victoria Watcher, 07 July 2020 - 02:52 AM.

  • jsan and Awaiting Juno like this

#18408 Mike K.

Mike K.
  • Administrator
  • 83,184 posts

Posted 07 July 2020 - 05:37 AM

Sooke says because health authorities are requiring people wash their hands, that is why the town has identified two parks as per a quote from the mayor calling one park more preferable than the other. One of the parks is a waterfront destination, the other is a huge children’s play park along with lawns and treed spaces.

The parallels between Victoria and Sooke are strikingly similar, and you really get the feeling that the mayor there is drawing from the same playbook mayor Helps did.
  • jsan likes this

Know it all.
Citified.ca is Victoria's most comprehensive research resource for new-build homes and commercial spaces.


#18409 Kungsberg

Kungsberg
  • Member
  • 419 posts

Posted 07 July 2020 - 07:08 AM

There are now at least 15 tents in BHP on Douglas St. immediately opposite South Park Elementary in the grassy area (the 3rd photo below is from the school steps). 

This doesn’t include all the tents that are up in the environmentally sensitive area around the Garry oaks, where there are some large congregations of group sites, at least one bike ‘chop shop’, etc.

 

As has been mentioned, the city has made up and installed many large new signs for those areas, with the ‘no tents’, ‘no walking’, ‘no biking’ symbols. 

Of course, none of that is enforced. 

 

And in what I believe is a first for Beacon Hill Park, and a sad one at that, is the installation of safe needle disposal boxes, which you can see in one of the photos.

 

Unbelievable that Mayor and council have allowed BHP to be used this way. I still don't understand the rationale behind why Topaz Park and Pandora Ave were shut down, but BHP is acceptable to them to be used this way.

Attached Images

  • 1.jpg
  • 2.jpg
  • 3.jpg
  • 4.jpg
  • 5.jpg

  • newbie_01 likes this

#18410 Nparker

Nparker
  • Member
  • 40,409 posts

Posted 07 July 2020 - 07:21 AM

...Unbelievable that Mayor and council have allowed BHP to be used this way...

Sadly, it's not the least bit unbelievable if you've been following their agenda over the past few years.  :whyme:


  • jsan likes this

#18411 Kungsberg

Kungsberg
  • Member
  • 419 posts

Posted 07 July 2020 - 07:45 AM

*  The welcoming committee at the entryway to the (now) all-pedestrian Arbutus Way (off Southgate St), with tents viewable in the background (there is a particularly large group encampment just behind there). They, and others, were making multiple trips back and forth with ‘collected’ (stolen) stuff…..chairs, firewood, a BBQ, a sun umbrella, some of them rolling multiple bikes. Here they are with a water jug in a baby stroller. Their contribution to that corner, by the time they left, was a ripped tarp, a broken bucket, 3 empty beer cans and some plastic packaging from food. I think the only reason BHP does not have more visible garbage is the work of park staff to pick up after the tenters.

 

*  BHP’s central playground and picnic area on a sunny Saturday. Every picnic table and seat bench was being used, and people were even on the grass, EXCEPT in a neat radius from the tents. I counted 5 picnic tables and 2 benches near them that were not being used. Perhaps it had something to do with the aggressive argument going on by the occupants of the red tent (as in “I’m gonna f***ing cut you!”), who also had a large dog roaming uncontrolled around the picnic area.

 

*   A one-man chop shop, in the shelter at the playground at Fisherman’s Wharf park. He was sleeping in the bushes directly behind the shelter.

 

 

Attached Images

  • 1.jpg
  • 2.jpg
  • 3.jpg
  • 4.jpg


#18412 Hotel Mike

Hotel Mike

    Hotel Mike

  • Member
  • 2,234 posts

Posted 07 July 2020 - 07:56 AM

This Council has completely failed in its duty to the citizens of Victoria. Why doesn't Carole James speak up? This is all in her riding. While she is still the MLA, maybe she can take some sort of action, that would help restore a balance of logic and decency into this whole equation.


  • Nparker, jsan, grantpalin and 4 others like this
Don't be so sure.:cool:

#18413 Mike K.

Mike K.
  • Administrator
  • 83,184 posts

Posted 07 July 2020 - 08:25 AM

As Victoria crumbles, the MP is discussing bread.

“I’m curious to know, what are your favourite types of bread? Mine is zucchini bread!” - MP Collins - https://twitter.com/...8769622016?s=21

Know it all.
Citified.ca is Victoria's most comprehensive research resource for new-build homes and commercial spaces.


#18414 Nparker

Nparker
  • Member
  • 40,409 posts

Posted 07 July 2020 - 08:29 AM

It was with much glee that I shredded MP Collins pamphlet that arrived in my mailbox yesterday.


  • Hotel Mike and Taj like this

#18415 aastra

aastra
  • Member
  • 20,650 posts

Posted 07 July 2020 - 08:35 AM

 

I’m curious to know, what are your favourite types of bread?

 

The people have no bread.

 

Okay, so then....____________


  • Nparker and jsan like this

#18416 aastra

aastra
  • Member
  • 20,650 posts

Posted 07 July 2020 - 09:03 AM

 

I still don't understand the rationale behind why Topaz Park and Pandora Ave were shut down, but BHP is acceptable to them to be used this way.

 

Why was it acceptable (or in any way sensible or logical) for BHP to be used for a barracks?

 

It seems the unspoken rationale for the never-ending campaign of misuse has always been the same: BHP is a special city park, so therefore it should be misused and abused.

 

And it seems the big three strikes against BHP have always been these:

 

it was unambiguously reserved for recreational uses right from the start (who do those uppity plebeians think they are, telling us -- the authorities -- how things should be?),

AND

it's beloved by people (therefore it should be flagrantly disrespected, as per the thousand other examples of flagrant disrespect for the city's heritage)

AND

it's highly visible (the "rubbing your face in it" component)

 

Does anyone ever pause to wonder what would be going on if BHP didn't exist? Or if the city had amalgamated early and BHP's equivalent was located somewhere out by Swan Lake or in the Uplands or wherever? I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest the BHP in that alternate reality would not have been under constant assault and subjected to every manner of abuse and misuse.


  • Nparker, jsan, Taj and 1 other like this

#18417 Nparker

Nparker
  • Member
  • 40,409 posts

Posted 07 July 2020 - 10:57 AM

Victoria’s top cop says that while Victoria is still a safe city, an increase in random attacks across the region and a rise in calls for service in Beacon Hill Park is concerning. Victoria Police Chief Del Manak told CFAX 1070 Tuesday morning that public calls for service have increased by roughly 82 per cent in the Beacon Hill area compared to the same period in 2019, and reports of violent crimes in the area have risen by 29 per cent. Manak says some of the increase in crime can be attributed to tent encampments in the area...

https://www.iheartra...ning-1.12912425

 



#18418 A Girl is No one

A Girl is No one
  • Member
  • 2,495 posts

Posted 07 July 2020 - 11:08 AM

This Council has completely failed in its duty to the citizens of Victoria. Why doesn't Carole James speak up? This is all in her riding. While she is still the MLA, maybe she can take some sort of action, that would help restore a balance of logic and decency into this whole equation.

Carole James was a supporter of the court house tent city which was also in her riding despite all the pleas from residents who were getting robbed, assaulted, intimidated etc.

#18419 Nparker

Nparker
  • Member
  • 40,409 posts

Posted 07 July 2020 - 11:12 AM

Carole James was a supporter of the court house tent city which was also in her riding despite all the pleas from residents who were getting robbed, assaulted, intimidated etc.

Exactly. I wrote to her multiple times about the court house issue, and not once did I get a reply.


  • rmpeers likes this

#18420 aastra

aastra
  • Member
  • 20,650 posts

Posted 07 July 2020 - 11:21 AM

 

...public calls for service have increased by roughly 82 per cent in the Beacon Hill area compared to the same period in 2019, and reports of violent crimes in the area have risen by 29 per cent. Manak says some of the increase in crime can be attributed to tent encampments in the area...

 

Methinks most of the increase can be attributed to James Bay & Fairfield residents and their ever-worsening zeal for lawlessness.


  • Nparker, rmpeers and Victoria Watcher like this

You're not quite at the end of this discussion topic!

Use the page links at the lower-left to go to the next page to read additional posts.
 



5 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 4 guests, 0 anonymous users


    Bing (1)