Douglas Todd's column about NIABYs is a perfect example why some might consider it prudent to stay out of public life. Dripping sanctimony like molasses from a cold barrel, he compares people who worry about increasing crime in the neighbourhood to Americans who oppose illegal aliens and Republicans who run hate ads. Vancouver has become the crime capital of Canada. Addiction has a lot to do with it. The problems in the Downtown Eastside spiral out of control. City hall has compounded the problem by closing down existing housing and forcing more people into the streets. Meanwhile, Mayor Sam Sullivan, between mumbles about eco-density, tells us that city hall has acquired 19 sites -- east side, west side and all around the town. [continues 113 words]
Re: McTreatment won't meet needs of addicts, Sound-off, May 30 Cheryl Savchenko has hit the nail, if not City Hall, on the head. Thirty years ago it was generally thought that substandard housing was the markets' response to substandard incomes. Today, such housing is the market's response to an exponentially increasing number of addicts in a society that has closed down the institutions that provided medical services to people with serious mental health issues. City Hall is planning to open its own franchise of addiction squats throughout Vancouver. The next one will be built at 16th and Dunbar, modelled on the prototype foisted on enraged residents on Fraser Street. There is no science or effective therapy behind these places. [continues 143 words]
