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Victoria homelessness and street-related issues


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#19001 rmpeers

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Posted 05 August 2020 - 11:46 AM


People without homes who have lived in the capital region for a year or more should be given higher priority for housing than those who recently moved here, says Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps.



In a motion going to committee of the whole on Thursday, Helps and three city councillors recommend that a one-year residency requirement be added to the list of criteria that’s used when assessing people for housing.


https://www.timescol...sing-1.24181120


Funny how the report continues to try to tell us that its a myth that homeless people here have come from elsewhere when a couple of quick calculations reveal that close to 200 arrived in the past year and 800 or so within the past 5 years.
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#19002 Awaiting Juno

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Posted 05 August 2020 - 12:15 PM

What about a national "Housing Insurance" program to deal with this issue?  Treat it similar to Employment Insurance (with similar supports for housing search and temporary housing replacement).  



#19003 rmpeers

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Posted 05 August 2020 - 01:03 PM

What about a national "Housing Insurance" program to deal with this issue? Treat it similar to Employment Insurance (with similar supports for housing search and temporary housing replacement).


Maybe but with 200 or so incoming annually we will quickly run out of hotels, especially since its apparently necessary for everyone to be crammed into the downtown area.
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#19004 Awaiting Juno

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Posted 05 August 2020 - 01:05 PM

Maybe but with 200 or so incoming annually we will quickly run out of hotels, especially since its apparently necessary for everyone to be crammed into the downtown area.

 

If every community was required to have "Insurance Housing" to meet temporary needs, maybe those people wouldn't move here in the first place.



#19005 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 05 August 2020 - 01:07 PM

the employment assistance program you model it on runs out if you do not take a job.

 

many homeless people would rather sleep on streets than work.



#19006 GetLisaSomeHelps

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Posted 05 August 2020 - 01:08 PM

What about a national "Housing Insurance" program to deal with this issue?  Treat it similar to Employment Insurance (with similar supports for housing search and temporary housing replacement).  

 

How about a national or provincial rental subsidy program (similar to that of daycare)? The devil would always be in the details when it comes to funding/eligibility but buying hotels/allowing urban camping in sensitive parks such as Beacon Hill is not the answer.


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#19007 GetLisaSomeHelps

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Posted 05 August 2020 - 01:10 PM

the employment assistance program you model it on runs out if you do not take a job.

 

many homeless people would rather sleep on streets than work.

 

Can we just build a giant barge and advertise it as a party island where we dump them all?


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#19008 A Girl is No one

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Posted 05 August 2020 - 01:51 PM

How about a national or provincial rental subsidy program (similar to that of daycare)? The devil would always be in the details when it comes to funding/eligibility but buying hotels/allowing urban camping in sensitive parks such as Beacon Hill is not the answer.

Interesting suggestions AJ. Thanks.

#19009 LJ

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Posted 05 August 2020 - 07:41 PM

If every community was required to have "Insurance Housing" to meet temporary needs, maybe those people wouldn't move here in the first place.

Again, 90% of these people aren't "homeless" they are criminal drug addicts. 

 

If we could identify the 10% who were working poor and help them with them housing I would be fully supportive.

 

As it is now we have bylaws that permit overnight camping only, enforce that and a lot of your problems disappear.


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Life's a journey......so roll down the window and enjoy the breeze.

#19010 Nparker

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Posted 05 August 2020 - 08:12 PM

...As it is now we have bylaws that permit overnight camping only, enforce that and a lot of your problems disappear.

This.



#19011 Awaiting Juno

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Posted 05 August 2020 - 08:19 PM

Again, 90% of these people aren't "homeless" they are criminal drug addicts. 

 

If we could identify the 10% who were working poor and help them with them housing I would be fully supportive.

 

As it is now we have bylaws that permit overnight camping only, enforce that and a lot of your problems disappear.

 

Like employment insurance - if you're at fault, you don't qualify.  It might separate out those need a hand up from those who are using the kindness of others unfairly.  


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#19012 Awaiting Juno

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Posted 05 August 2020 - 08:20 PM

Like employment insurance - if you're at fault, you don't qualify.  It might separate out those need a hand up from those who are using the kindness of others unfairly.  

 

Also like employment insurance, there's a duty to be actively looking for market housing.  Not actively looking - then you're going to be put on notice.


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#19013 kxl

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Posted 06 August 2020 - 04:12 AM

So what has Chrissy Brett been up to lately?

Brett and other camp leaders are calling for a safe supply of drugs and alcohol to be available to anyone who needs it.

https://globalnews.c...pete-fry-cknw/?

#19014 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 06 August 2020 - 04:16 AM

So what has Chrissy Brett been up to lately?

https://globalnews.c...pete-fry-cknw/?

 

 

The number of tents at Vancouver’s Strathcona Park has reached nearly 350, and residents are growing more and more concerned following what one city councillor calls “a number of scary incidents involving children.”



#19015 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 06 August 2020 - 05:03 AM

Headline:

 

Public urged to not speculate on who taped needle to railing

 

 

 

Then:

 

People need to resist the urge to jump to conclusions about who left a used needle found taped to a railing in Beacon Hill Park, says Our Place communications director Grant McKenzie.

 

McKenzie said he found the timing of the discovery “troubling,” given the growing tensions surrounding the presence of homeless people living in Beacon Hill Park.

 

 

 

 

And after telling the public "not to speculate", Grant Mckenzie proceeds to speculate:

 

While McKenzie said he can’t rule out the possibility that someone who used the needle tied it to the railing, he said it could have been placed to stir up more controversy about people tenting in the park.

 

“I think your natural instinct, especially in a community when we don’t understand addiction, we jump to that conclusion right away. Oh, it must have been someone who’s addicted who did that. You really have to think about, you know, what would that person have gained from that, compared to on the other side where it’s raised more hatred towards the campers at Beacon Hill Park. And so that seems, to me, a larger incentive than someone actually deliberately trying to hurt someone for no good reason,” McKenzie said.

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...ling-1.24181793


Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 August 2020 - 05:06 AM.


#19016 Rob Randall

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Posted 06 August 2020 - 05:44 AM

To be honest I would not be surprised if McKenzie's suggestion is true. It is strange how planted needles seem to appear at the most controversial locations and the most critical times.

 

Anyway here's a bit on the "free alcohol" program in Ottawa:

 

...participants were mostly older males with an average of 35 years of alcohol use history and consumed an average of 46 drinks a day. Most had been homeless for more than two years before entering MAP, and all had failed or refused treatment in abstinence programs. The group averaged 13.5 visits to health emergency departments and 18.1 police reports per month.

Participants in the study lived for an average of 16 months in a 15-bed wet shelter, with meals provided. Assisted by a client-care worker, they were administered up to 140 ml of wine or 90 ml of sherry, by request. A 24-hour oncall nurse was available to the shelter, and participants underwent weekly trips to the doctor. Investigators monitored alcohol intake, police reports, hospital visits, hygiene, sleeping patterns, eating habits, and medicine compliance.

Subjects were monitored for up to two years following participation in the wet shelter program. Dr. Podymow and her associates found that emergency visits to the hospital had been reduced by more than a third, with a group average of 8.1 per month. The number of police reports per month for the group also halved, with an average of 8.8. Alcohol intake drastically decreased to eight drinks daily. Participants had improved hygiene and nutrition, were able to regularly attend medical appointments, and all but two consistently took their prescription medication.

 

https://www.heretohe...nd-homelessness

 

So yes, free booze, but a lot of strings attached. I'm also in favour of free drugs with similar restrictions. Forget strings, these are ropes, take it or leave it. 


Edited by Rob Randall, 06 August 2020 - 05:45 AM.

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#19017 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 06 August 2020 - 06:01 AM

To be honest I would not be surprised if McKenzie's suggestion is true. It is strange how planted needles seem to appear at the most controversial locations and the most critical times.

 

 

 

i agree.



#19018 Nparker

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Posted 06 August 2020 - 06:53 AM

 

Brett and other camp leaders are calling for a safe supply of drugs and alcohol to be available to anyone who needs it.

How do I get in on the free alcohol gig?



#19019 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 06 August 2020 - 06:57 AM

How do I get in on the free alcohol gig?

 

start one of these wine bottle pyramid schemes at your office.



#19020 Rob Randall

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Posted 06 August 2020 - 07:01 AM

How do I get in on the free alcohol gig?

 

As I pointed out, it's actually quite easy. First spend 30 years as an alcoholic. A lot of people successfully accomplish this without really trying hard. Then sign up and the nurse gives you 140 ml of wine whenever you ask. Sounds like heaven.


Edited by Rob Randall, 06 August 2020 - 07:02 AM.

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