HEAT SHELTERS

Watching Vancouver city council, led by Mayor Gregor Robertson is very much like watching a train speed down a mountain, rounding corners, and knowing that the inevitable derailment is bound to be spectacular. Heat shelters are one of the issues on the train.

His Worship (anyone know where that term came from?) campaigned on the homeless issue. When a hard to house woman accidently burned to death while trying to keep warm, it seemed to galvanize the citizens of Vancouver and most people applauded when Mayor Robertson acted quickly to open the 2 heat shelters under the Granville Bridge. These shelters were designed to accommodate just about anyone. Many homeless people have their dogs, and their prized possessions piled high in their stolen shopping carts. Yeah, go ahead ....bring that in too. They can't get into regular shelters, because they won't give up their pets or their stuff.

Now, the weather has turned ..... they don't need heat to stay alive but the City has kept the shelters going for fear they will lose the funding from the province altogether. The funding is due to run out at the end of June. The liberal government has been unavailable for comment (especially the housing minister Rich Coleman and that new MLA who is terrified of actually having to make a statement that might contradict her new political masters (rather than all those people who voted for her). The strategy seems to be to let Mayor Robertson twist in the wind, which I'm sure he deserves. Trouble is, that strategy is going to hurt everyone.

And the problem is, the shelters are on the doorstep of some of Vancouver's nicest real estate developments; a neighborhood that paid dearly for their initial investment, only to see it deteriorate to the point of wanting to sell. The trouble is, "To Whom?"

Reports say the people using the shelters aren't the problem; it's the drug dealers that come to service their needs that are causing the problem. It's not about blame. It's about restoring the neighborhood. It's obviously the wrong place for that kind of shelter. The debate about whether these types of shelters should even exist, or why we let known drug dealers take up space and freedom in our streets is for another post.

Poor Gregor. He's trying to help ( I think ) and now it's biting him in the rear end. That's what left wing dogma will do to you. But that's the reality in many cases. I tried to help a homeless guy a few years back. Gave him a fresh start, a job and some regular meals. But in the end, he couldn't beat his addiction. I didn't have the skills or the resources to truly turn him around. I couldn't help even one life for more than a week or so. And so he stole from me and went back to the street, where he is so very comfortable .... in all sorts of weather. Failure is much easier to deal with than success.

What should be done with Vancouver's homeless? Do you want a shelter in your neighborhood? How can we expect another neighborhood to accept it if we won't?