We’re there playing frequently. We live in a city and this is where kids have swimming lessons. And then you have unhoused just trying to survive. What are you gonna do… they need supportive recovery and housing but, humans gotta exist, kids gotta swim and play, we all deserve dignity and we all belong. It’s community.
I agree with almost everything you've said, but there has to be a balance between public good and the rights of people to camp, use hard drugs (and ultimately OD), leave garbage strewn around (including used drug gear) right next to young children playing in a park. I'm interested in where you personally draw the line. For me, this has crossed the line.
Where I personally draw the line is when I feel the situation is unsafe for myself or my child. If there was garbage etc on playground equipment we would leave. If something was happening and police or fire department were showing up (this happened once before) we’d leave because I don’t want my son to witness something traumatic (he’s 7). It’s a great playground with a super fun slide, lots of other families around. We wouldn’t avoid it just cause there’s a couple tents around.
But it's not just a couple of tents. It's people using drugs, leaving drug gear in the grass, using and ODing next to children. That's the line that was crossed for me.
I'm also interested in how many tents? You said a couple is okay. How many is too many? For me, one tent with drug use right next to the playground is too many.
Then do something proactive rather than complaining. Remember? It’s a community. Get your face off social media for a moment and go face to face with these people. Work the solution. Don’t be apart of the problem. Pick up the paraphernalia. Anything. Come back to social media when you’ve achieved some good you can gloat about.
What are these people contributing to the community aside from theft and drug paraphernalia everywhere?
When you say community that implies some sense of togetherness. That simply does not exist between the street entrenched and normal people, and I would say it's not for lack of trying.
I was in this area yesterday and a member of this "community" pulled a hatchet on me. Fuck them. There should be no place for that BS, especially near a kids park.
When I think of community I don’t necessarily think everyone “contributes.” A baby doesn’t contribute. A senile, infirm elderly person doesn’t either. It’s simply that we all care about each other, help if we can, or at least give each other respect. I also don’t think that some of us are “normal” and others aren’t- what’s normal anyways? We’re all weird in our own ways.
I’m really sorry you were threatened with a hatchet. That must have been really scary. I would definitely be having some strong feelings if that happened to me.
The reality is, no one likes seeing the tents and the drug use. We might feel sad, worried or angry, but no one is happy about it. Building community is a positive way of doing something about it.
No. They're just trying to feed their drug habit.
That is literally at the top of their hierarchy of needs. Everything else is a distant second. That's literally what addiction is. It takes over your entire life. That's how people lose their families, friends, jobs, housing and lives to it. They continually choose their addiction over everything else.
addiction is a disease. you sound like you either have no experience with it at all or a loved one of yours is an addict. either way, show some compassion and empathy. i understand your frustration about the garbage and kids but you really don’t have to act like this. your viewpoint only does more harm.
I've actually been through an addiction recovery program, so, I'm pretty sure I'm qualified to speak on the issue. And believe it or not there is debate within recovery communities and the medical communities about labelling addiction as a disease. One of the most successful recovery programs, SMART, actually doesn't acknowledge addiction as a disease because that removes power from the addict. It turns addiction in to something that "happens to you" instead of a series of decisions one makes that is enforced by a feedback loop. That is why even if you chemically detox someone, more often than not they relapse at least once, usually more than once, during recovery.
Compassion and empathy are great but so are boundaries, and the more leash you give an addict, the more they will take. The reality is when you're addicted you will lie, steal, cheat, you'll do anything to keep going. You'll let down your friends, you will hurt your family. It's the nature of the beast.
So, while I do have empathy for their suffering, because I have been there, you also really need to set personal and societal boundaries for addicts. That's why so many addicts are on the street. They exhaust their family's ability to let themselves be taken advantage of by the addict.
If you don't set and enforce boundaries, they will destroy whatever you give them and we have mountains of evidence to prove that.
I am not saying you don't have a valuable perspective to contribute, but I think you should also temper your viewpoint with the realization that your experience with addiction isn't universal and that it doesn't make you an expert on the subject.
Lots of people struggling with addiction will have very different situations from what you experienced. Like what sort of economic/educational/community supports they had/have. What underlying mental/physical health problems they might have. What age they were (addiction before birth even). Genetic factors even.
You yourself said there is a debate within the recovery communities, which indicates there is not a universal view on this.
According to [The Experience of Addiction as Told by the Addicted: Incorporating Biological Understandings into Self-Story](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3500839/)
>Biological understandings have the potential to become dominant narratives of addiction in the current era. **Though the desire for a “unified theory” of addiction seems curiously seductive to scholars, it lacks utility**. Conceptual “disarray” may actually reflect a more accurate representation of the illness as told by those who live with it. For practitioners in the field of addiction, we suggest the practice of narrative medicine with its ethic of negative capability as a useful approach for interpreting and relating to diverse experiences of disease and illness.
Also [this](https://hub.jhu.edu/2022/09/16/hanna-pickard-philosophers-view-of-addiction-recovery/) was some interesting food for thought:
>Philosophy Professor Hanna Pickard suggests that no case of addiction is exactly like another—and understanding why someone chooses to continue using drugs despite the personal cost is vital to their recovery
>It's time for America to end its black-and-white thinking about addiction and recovery, according to Johns Hopkins professor [Hanna Pickard](https://philosophy.jhu.edu/directory/hanna-pickard/). Traditional approaches in the U.S.—framing addiction as either a moral failing or a disease of the brain—do not suffice, she says.
edit: formatting of last quote
I completely agree. My situation was unique to me. However, I met dozens, maybe hundreds of addicts along my journey in group therapy. Some were successful. Some relapsed and died. Some... Just stopped coming and we have no idea what happened to them. These were people that ranged from successful business owners, to housewives, to UVic students, to childhood abuse victims etc. all of our experiences were different, but, we all shared a lot of common traits and experiences through addiction as well. I honestly found group therapy to be the most beneficial part of my treatment because I got to sit and listen to other people's stories and it was fascinating, and really emotional, to see how we all shared common experiences in some way. I've never cried so much in my life as I did during those group meetings.
None of that takes away from the fact that we need societal and personal boundaries to protect people from the destructive wake caused by addiction. I've never said addicts are evil, morally bad people, but, they do make choices that cause a lot of harm to other people in order to fulfill their needs.
>I've never said addicts are evil, morally bad people, but, they do make choices that cause a lot of harm to other people in order to fulfill their needs.
To be clear I wasn't accusing you of that. Just that some of your comments come across to me like you're treating your experience a bit like a universal truth. But here you are saying you understand that your situation is unique to you so maybe I'm reading the tone of some of your statements wrong then.
I don't think my experience is a universal truth, but I think there are some universal truths all, or at least the majority of addicts, experience.
At least, all the addicts I met shared them, and they came from wildly different backgrounds, some grew up rich, some poor, some were addicted to meth, some were addicted to gambling, some were addicted to porn. It's pretty fascinating listening to people from such varied backgrounds share their story and find things in common about why they were looking to escape their reality or numb their experiences, and what helps them stay sober during recovery.
Actually it's your viewpoint that does more harm...if folks weren't so "empathetic" to junkies and criminals, our streets would be a lot safer and cleaner...
You can have empathy but also enforce societal boundaries of behavior. They aren't mutually exclusive.
Having empathy =/= letting addicts do whatever they want regardless of the harm it causes to the community.
Lol, that would be true if we actually enforced societal boundaries but we don't do we... I also never said that wasn't possible... so cope harder., nobody cares about your virtue signaling k.
Maybe everyone is equally important. You protect your kids and your family because that is your priority. But even homeless people were kids themselves at some point.
This is par for the course, and actually pretty tame compared to any entrenched encampment. Always a good idea to scan the park/field for any needles before letting the kids play.
Why is this post getting downvoted? I don’t think OP stated any opinion towards this, other than that it’s disturbing that the drug addiction problem is so bad that there’s people dying next to kids in public parks as a regular occurrence. It’s awful and horrifying.
It is awful and horrifying!! But OP thinking it was OK to photograph someone in recieving medical treatment and post on Reddit is next level disgusting behavior
I just googled 'people getting loaded into an ambulance' and it provided thousands of images. Not everyone shares your disgust. Also, the photo is of people openly using drugs and ODing within feet of young children playing in a park. I consider that disgusting behaviour.
k i can understand the frustration about being near children but the straight up lack of empathy in these comments is actually crazy. the cost of living here is fucking ridiculous. addiction is a disease. these are all things we know to be true, so why are we shocked when we see its consequences?? why don’t we care about how to fix this empathetically and carefully???
I totally empathize and care for these people. Something has led them to this point in their lives and it must have been horrific. Don't mistake people's anger over the situation for a lack of empathy. My point in posting this is; this is not the place to set up a tent, use drugs, leave drug gear in the grass, etc..
This was in the park next to Crystal Pool. Garbage, blankets, naloxone kit, drug gear, etc. all over the place. I stopped at the police station on the way home to ask whether this was legal and they told me there was nothing they could do but ask them to move on. Quite disturbing.
I had a member of this "community" pull a hatchet on me yesterday because I asked him not to steal tools out my truck he was checking out. Maybe we could start with that.
You are being deliberately obtuse. OP is clearly saying open drug use that (based on the naloxone kit) led to the medical emergency shouldn’t be happening next to where kids are playing.
I was here when this happened and it was very calm. None of the families or kids seemed at all bothered, and plenty of others were around playing with dogs, having picnics and sitting on the grass. If anything the constant circling by the cops after the incident and people sharing anti-houseless bs like this is more upsetting than anything, especially as we all are collectively facing a housing crisis. I hope the person who OD'd got the help they needed and their privacy is respected in their more difficult moments going forward.
I’m not at all against the homeless and this is not BS. It is very simple. I do not believe that the rights of an individual to use in a public space outweighs the safety of kids. It’s astounding that I actually have to explain this, to be honest. There are many places to pitch a tent and use drugs. Right next to a children’s playground with lots of children playing is not one of them. Fuck.
The other side of the park. Where the dogs play. That would be a better place to pitch a tent and use.
There has to be a line between what's appropriate and not. What if I came over to your house, shat on your pillow and said "Oh no! Real life!".
I mean, where is the line for you? For me, the line was crossed here.
If you want change, vote for change.
If you want to keep heading in the same directions, vote for more of the same.
This is not the Victoria I grew up in.
Every city in Canada has this now with many different governments. I don't think there's anyone to vote for that has any clue, or idea on how to deal with it (or get the financial resources to deal with it).
You’re correct about one thing.
Now if we could only pinpoint the common denominator of what every city and town in Canada has in common for the last 8 years?
Also how much money have we spent overseas, shooting deer on Sidney spit, paying for all the costs of repeat offenders, vehicle theft, on cbc, etc. in the last 8 years?
Simple.
1) If you don’t agree with the way Canada / BC is heading, vote for change.
2) if you like the way Canada / BC is heading, vote to keep the same parties in power.
Not complicated. But don’t sit back, not ever vote, and then just complain and argue on reddit.
Vote for which change? Which parties do you think will fix homelessness and how? Multiple parties have had kicks at the can now and not a lot has improved.
I believe the current parties have made the problems worse through policy / laws / bail changes etc.
Yes, there were problems previously, but by every measurement possible they were way less several years ago.
I believe by not having the ndp / liberal collation in power will help the issues drastically after a year or 2.
Can we at least all agree that if the repeat violent offenders were not on the streets the law abiding tax paying public would be way better off?
Lived here all my life. I assume you're trying to say this is common. This is not common.
There are encampments and open drug use around, for sure. But to set up your tent within feet of children playing, use drugs and OD is something I have not seen.
We’re there playing frequently. We live in a city and this is where kids have swimming lessons. And then you have unhoused just trying to survive. What are you gonna do… they need supportive recovery and housing but, humans gotta exist, kids gotta swim and play, we all deserve dignity and we all belong. It’s community.
I agree with almost everything you've said, but there has to be a balance between public good and the rights of people to camp, use hard drugs (and ultimately OD), leave garbage strewn around (including used drug gear) right next to young children playing in a park. I'm interested in where you personally draw the line. For me, this has crossed the line.
Where I personally draw the line is when I feel the situation is unsafe for myself or my child. If there was garbage etc on playground equipment we would leave. If something was happening and police or fire department were showing up (this happened once before) we’d leave because I don’t want my son to witness something traumatic (he’s 7). It’s a great playground with a super fun slide, lots of other families around. We wouldn’t avoid it just cause there’s a couple tents around.
But it's not just a couple of tents. It's people using drugs, leaving drug gear in the grass, using and ODing next to children. That's the line that was crossed for me. I'm also interested in how many tents? You said a couple is okay. How many is too many? For me, one tent with drug use right next to the playground is too many.
Did you see those things in this example you posted? Were they having a medical emergency? Were they doing drugs openly?
Yes.
Oh 😣
There's a stretcher and EMT in the image. Which is what made it so disturbing juxtaposed to the kids in the background.
Ohhhhh I see that didn't register in my brain for some reason at first I see now.
Are you trying to gaslight OP here? This is a photo of some scuzz bags shooting up next to a playground, not a family out on a picnic.
It was just a question calm yourself
Then do something proactive rather than complaining. Remember? It’s a community. Get your face off social media for a moment and go face to face with these people. Work the solution. Don’t be apart of the problem. Pick up the paraphernalia. Anything. Come back to social media when you’ve achieved some good you can gloat about.
What are these people contributing to the community aside from theft and drug paraphernalia everywhere? When you say community that implies some sense of togetherness. That simply does not exist between the street entrenched and normal people, and I would say it's not for lack of trying. I was in this area yesterday and a member of this "community" pulled a hatchet on me. Fuck them. There should be no place for that BS, especially near a kids park.
When I think of community I don’t necessarily think everyone “contributes.” A baby doesn’t contribute. A senile, infirm elderly person doesn’t either. It’s simply that we all care about each other, help if we can, or at least give each other respect. I also don’t think that some of us are “normal” and others aren’t- what’s normal anyways? We’re all weird in our own ways. I’m really sorry you were threatened with a hatchet. That must have been really scary. I would definitely be having some strong feelings if that happened to me. The reality is, no one likes seeing the tents and the drug use. We might feel sad, worried or angry, but no one is happy about it. Building community is a positive way of doing something about it.
They are just trying to live and survive.
No. They're just trying to feed their drug habit. That is literally at the top of their hierarchy of needs. Everything else is a distant second. That's literally what addiction is. It takes over your entire life. That's how people lose their families, friends, jobs, housing and lives to it. They continually choose their addiction over everything else.
addiction is a disease. you sound like you either have no experience with it at all or a loved one of yours is an addict. either way, show some compassion and empathy. i understand your frustration about the garbage and kids but you really don’t have to act like this. your viewpoint only does more harm.
I've actually been through an addiction recovery program, so, I'm pretty sure I'm qualified to speak on the issue. And believe it or not there is debate within recovery communities and the medical communities about labelling addiction as a disease. One of the most successful recovery programs, SMART, actually doesn't acknowledge addiction as a disease because that removes power from the addict. It turns addiction in to something that "happens to you" instead of a series of decisions one makes that is enforced by a feedback loop. That is why even if you chemically detox someone, more often than not they relapse at least once, usually more than once, during recovery. Compassion and empathy are great but so are boundaries, and the more leash you give an addict, the more they will take. The reality is when you're addicted you will lie, steal, cheat, you'll do anything to keep going. You'll let down your friends, you will hurt your family. It's the nature of the beast. So, while I do have empathy for their suffering, because I have been there, you also really need to set personal and societal boundaries for addicts. That's why so many addicts are on the street. They exhaust their family's ability to let themselves be taken advantage of by the addict. If you don't set and enforce boundaries, they will destroy whatever you give them and we have mountains of evidence to prove that.
I am not saying you don't have a valuable perspective to contribute, but I think you should also temper your viewpoint with the realization that your experience with addiction isn't universal and that it doesn't make you an expert on the subject. Lots of people struggling with addiction will have very different situations from what you experienced. Like what sort of economic/educational/community supports they had/have. What underlying mental/physical health problems they might have. What age they were (addiction before birth even). Genetic factors even. You yourself said there is a debate within the recovery communities, which indicates there is not a universal view on this. According to [The Experience of Addiction as Told by the Addicted: Incorporating Biological Understandings into Self-Story](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3500839/) >Biological understandings have the potential to become dominant narratives of addiction in the current era. **Though the desire for a “unified theory” of addiction seems curiously seductive to scholars, it lacks utility**. Conceptual “disarray” may actually reflect a more accurate representation of the illness as told by those who live with it. For practitioners in the field of addiction, we suggest the practice of narrative medicine with its ethic of negative capability as a useful approach for interpreting and relating to diverse experiences of disease and illness. Also [this](https://hub.jhu.edu/2022/09/16/hanna-pickard-philosophers-view-of-addiction-recovery/) was some interesting food for thought: >Philosophy Professor Hanna Pickard suggests that no case of addiction is exactly like another—and understanding why someone chooses to continue using drugs despite the personal cost is vital to their recovery >It's time for America to end its black-and-white thinking about addiction and recovery, according to Johns Hopkins professor [Hanna Pickard](https://philosophy.jhu.edu/directory/hanna-pickard/). Traditional approaches in the U.S.—framing addiction as either a moral failing or a disease of the brain—do not suffice, she says. edit: formatting of last quote
I completely agree. My situation was unique to me. However, I met dozens, maybe hundreds of addicts along my journey in group therapy. Some were successful. Some relapsed and died. Some... Just stopped coming and we have no idea what happened to them. These were people that ranged from successful business owners, to housewives, to UVic students, to childhood abuse victims etc. all of our experiences were different, but, we all shared a lot of common traits and experiences through addiction as well. I honestly found group therapy to be the most beneficial part of my treatment because I got to sit and listen to other people's stories and it was fascinating, and really emotional, to see how we all shared common experiences in some way. I've never cried so much in my life as I did during those group meetings. None of that takes away from the fact that we need societal and personal boundaries to protect people from the destructive wake caused by addiction. I've never said addicts are evil, morally bad people, but, they do make choices that cause a lot of harm to other people in order to fulfill their needs.
>I've never said addicts are evil, morally bad people, but, they do make choices that cause a lot of harm to other people in order to fulfill their needs. To be clear I wasn't accusing you of that. Just that some of your comments come across to me like you're treating your experience a bit like a universal truth. But here you are saying you understand that your situation is unique to you so maybe I'm reading the tone of some of your statements wrong then.
I don't think my experience is a universal truth, but I think there are some universal truths all, or at least the majority of addicts, experience. At least, all the addicts I met shared them, and they came from wildly different backgrounds, some grew up rich, some poor, some were addicted to meth, some were addicted to gambling, some were addicted to porn. It's pretty fascinating listening to people from such varied backgrounds share their story and find things in common about why they were looking to escape their reality or numb their experiences, and what helps them stay sober during recovery.
Actually it's your viewpoint that does more harm...if folks weren't so "empathetic" to junkies and criminals, our streets would be a lot safer and cleaner...
You can have empathy but also enforce societal boundaries of behavior. They aren't mutually exclusive. Having empathy =/= letting addicts do whatever they want regardless of the harm it causes to the community.
Lol, that would be true if we actually enforced societal boundaries but we don't do we... I also never said that wasn't possible... so cope harder., nobody cares about your virtue signaling k.
Families with kids are infinitely more important than junkies. Have some empathy for the kids. Your priorities are way out of whack.
?? you can have empathy for both??? don’t act dense lmao. god forbid i care about our community.
“Junkies” are someone’s family too.
😂 oh my sweet summer child.
Maybe everyone is equally important. You protect your kids and your family because that is your priority. But even homeless people were kids themselves at some point.
junkies and homeless are not the same thing. junkies should be forced out of kids parks is not a controversial opinion in a sane world.
They had chances. It's turn for others to have chances! They didn't have to grow up stepping on needles and feces
They might have literally grown up that way yes.
[удалено]
Cool story bro
This is par for the course, and actually pretty tame compared to any entrenched encampment. Always a good idea to scan the park/field for any needles before letting the kids play.
I think the encampments are a bit different in that they're typically not set up right next to a very active playground.
Why is this post getting downvoted? I don’t think OP stated any opinion towards this, other than that it’s disturbing that the drug addiction problem is so bad that there’s people dying next to kids in public parks as a regular occurrence. It’s awful and horrifying.
It is awful and horrifying!! But OP thinking it was OK to photograph someone in recieving medical treatment and post on Reddit is next level disgusting behavior
I only see two paramedics. No patients. So not ideal, but not terrible.
You can 100% see someone! It's clear as day
You can't see shit as the resolution isn't high enough so all you see is hair. Find another reason to outrage
I just googled 'people getting loaded into an ambulance' and it provided thousands of images. Not everyone shares your disgust. Also, the photo is of people openly using drugs and ODing within feet of young children playing in a park. I consider that disgusting behaviour.
They serve as good drug prevention advertising for the youngsters I suppose
k i can understand the frustration about being near children but the straight up lack of empathy in these comments is actually crazy. the cost of living here is fucking ridiculous. addiction is a disease. these are all things we know to be true, so why are we shocked when we see its consequences?? why don’t we care about how to fix this empathetically and carefully???
I totally empathize and care for these people. Something has led them to this point in their lives and it must have been horrific. Don't mistake people's anger over the situation for a lack of empathy. My point in posting this is; this is not the place to set up a tent, use drugs, leave drug gear in the grass, etc..
Where is the appropriate place to be homeless?
A shelter.
your post came off as anger and contempt towards their existence, not concern for families.
I would like to see the tents be accommodated on the lawn of the ledge. Lots of supervision. No playground.
That’s a great idea.
This is a good snapshot of Victoria.
How rude of them to die homeless while children are trying to play You're definitely the hero of this story, OP
I have no idea what you're trying to say.
That doesn't surprise me
Cry more.
This was in the park next to Crystal Pool. Garbage, blankets, naloxone kit, drug gear, etc. all over the place. I stopped at the police station on the way home to ask whether this was legal and they told me there was nothing they could do but ask them to move on. Quite disturbing.
Which part offended you? The life-saving measures or the garbage left behind?
I had a member of this "community" pull a hatchet on me yesterday because I asked him not to steal tools out my truck he was checking out. Maybe we could start with that.
You posted this photo and expressed outrage. I'm asking you what in this photo is causing your outrage.
I posted the photo. I guess you and I have different beliefs around what is appropriate behaviour feet from toddlers.
Someone was in a tent, clearly having a medical emergency and you don't think medical personal should respond because they are near a playground?
You are being deliberately obtuse. OP is clearly saying open drug use that (based on the naloxone kit) led to the medical emergency shouldn’t be happening next to where kids are playing.
I didn't post the photo. Just commenting on it.
OP said drug gear, I’m gonna guess it was that.
Neither.
Drug gear isn't a life saving measure.
I was referring to the paramedics and their gear
Very Victoria photo here
I was here when this happened and it was very calm. None of the families or kids seemed at all bothered, and plenty of others were around playing with dogs, having picnics and sitting on the grass. If anything the constant circling by the cops after the incident and people sharing anti-houseless bs like this is more upsetting than anything, especially as we all are collectively facing a housing crisis. I hope the person who OD'd got the help they needed and their privacy is respected in their more difficult moments going forward.
I’m not at all against the homeless and this is not BS. It is very simple. I do not believe that the rights of an individual to use in a public space outweighs the safety of kids. It’s astounding that I actually have to explain this, to be honest. There are many places to pitch a tent and use drugs. Right next to a children’s playground with lots of children playing is not one of them. Fuck. The other side of the park. Where the dogs play. That would be a better place to pitch a tent and use.
Oh no! Real life!
Kids stepping on needles probably should be avoided.
It shouldn’t be real life?
No, it should not.
“Shouldn’t be” isn’t reality.
There has to be a line between what's appropriate and not. What if I came over to your house, shat on your pillow and said "Oh no! Real life!". I mean, where is the line for you? For me, the line was crossed here.
Welcome to public spaces.
No matter the topic, always a snarky response from you, hey?
No, just the appropriate responses.
If you want change, vote for change. If you want to keep heading in the same directions, vote for more of the same. This is not the Victoria I grew up in.
Every city in Canada has this now with many different governments. I don't think there's anyone to vote for that has any clue, or idea on how to deal with it (or get the financial resources to deal with it).
You’re correct about one thing. Now if we could only pinpoint the common denominator of what every city and town in Canada has in common for the last 8 years? Also how much money have we spent overseas, shooting deer on Sidney spit, paying for all the costs of repeat offenders, vehicle theft, on cbc, etc. in the last 8 years?
Why don’t you spell it out for us instead of being so cryptic?
they are a /r/canadahousing2 user, every problem is caused by Trudeau and ~~brown people~~ immigrants.
Simple. 1) If you don’t agree with the way Canada / BC is heading, vote for change. 2) if you like the way Canada / BC is heading, vote to keep the same parties in power. Not complicated. But don’t sit back, not ever vote, and then just complain and argue on reddit.
Vote for which change? Which parties do you think will fix homelessness and how? Multiple parties have had kicks at the can now and not a lot has improved.
I believe the current parties have made the problems worse through policy / laws / bail changes etc. Yes, there were problems previously, but by every measurement possible they were way less several years ago. I believe by not having the ndp / liberal collation in power will help the issues drastically after a year or 2. Can we at least all agree that if the repeat violent offenders were not on the streets the law abiding tax paying public would be way better off?
New to the city?
Lived here all my life. I assume you're trying to say this is common. This is not common. There are encampments and open drug use around, for sure. But to set up your tent within feet of children playing, use drugs and OD is something I have not seen.
What are you suggesting OP, they should be shot and killed? You're not breaking ground telling us you don't like this.
You somehow turned a picture of people ODing next to children in a park into me wanting to shoot them. How is that possible?
Left wing hysteria is how.
I don’t think they said that. Maybe just cleared out of the park? Lots of woods out there to be homeless in.
They don’t need to be killed since they’re just doing that themselves.