NPAVille
Why did folks like Sam Sullivan and the (still unannounced) financial backers of the anti-progressive 'KnoWards' campaign need to win so much?
Could it have been a pressing need to stop crazy stuff like people insisting that all parts of the City of Vancouver need to do their share in helping those that need help so much.
Clear thinking Vancouver resident Tim Everett says it so well in a letter to the Vancouver Courier published last Sunday, the day after the election:
To the editor:
Re: "And then there were three," Nov. 13.
When the discussion arose last winter regarding the proposed Triage dual-diagnosis residence on Fraser Street (for recovering drug addicts with mental illness) I looked into the placement of special needs residence facilities across Vancouver. A city council member and city staffer had informed me that, "It is fair to say that generally these uses are scattered across the city, with exception of the southwest." I referred to the map provided and my counting contradicted such a claim.
Supported housing east of Main Street is almost double of that west of Main (100 out of a total 155 facilities). This includes all types of residences, whether it's for seniors, low-income, mental health or drug and alcohol rehabilitation. According to my count, Fraser Street accommodates a whopping 12 per cent of all the city's mental health residences.
That's why I was so intrigued when I saw the news story about the proposed supported housing in Dunbar. When plans for Triage on Fraser were unleashed there was massive local opposition. Residents were treated to a few huge and colourful public meetings and one public hearing. After this process council unanimously ignored the residents and adopted the plan designed and recommended by city staff (albeit with a tiny tweak or two).
The residents were called NIMBYs by the mayor and scolded for not doing their part for the poor folks who need help and for the Four Pillars plan in general. Obviously it was a done deal after all, in spite of what Coun. Anne Roberts said at the public meeting.
Let's just hope that the fine folks in Dunbar are ready to do their part for the team. It must be difficult for them to discover that their community might have to help shoulder a small portion of the social burden that's been foisted upon the East Side for decades. (We were, after all, "educated" that the folks for the dual-diagnosis place on Fraser would come from both the poor and wealthy areas of town.) It must be excruciating to face the notion that Vancouver's Special Zone for all things yucky (a.k.a. the East Side), might not always be forced to do the heavy lifting and that the load must be shared.
We need drug and alcohol treatment and supported housing desperately in this city. All progress in dealing with lost lives and street crime relies upon it. Even after the fiasco of the way the Triage centre at Fraser was pushed through, I am in favour of it. The East Side has traditionally been forced to accommodate any and all manner of unattractive projects for Vancouver while the more well-heeled areas west of Main are exempt. That the city has bought the property on Dunbar may address this, but I'm not holding my breath. I'll be interested to see how much resolve a new city council will have to put anything on Dunbar other than what the privileged and insulated residents there decide on. Dual-diagnosis residence? Snowballs in hell would fare better. Drug and alcohol rehab centre? Pigs will fly first. A nice, quiet subsidized housing project for local seniors who'd rather not move out to the suburbs? Aaaah. That sounds nice.
Tim Everett, Vancouver
Enough said.
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