Category Archives: The Issues

Homeless, Municipal

Cleaning up the City’s homeless

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I suspect that when called upon to explain their current actions with regard to their persecution of your fellow citizens unfortunate enough to suffer the travail of homelessness, the Mayor, Councilors, city Staff and Police will all claim “we were just trying to cleanse – oops, clean up – the homeless situation”. In their zeal and drive to exterminate –oops eliminate – the homeless from the streets of Abbotsford they seem indifferent to the consequences of their actions. Whether those actions cause suffering for the homeless OR the other taxpayers of the city. They seem to have forgotten the words of Herman Melville “We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects”.

I do have a suggestion concerning cleaning up the city’s homeless. Since it is sensible, pragmatic and would accomplish something positive, I doubt the intolerant tyrants attempting to purge the homeless from the streets would be interested in these suggestions. Let us use a small fraction of the funds and resources being wasted on this futile, but dogmatic, effort to ‘disappear’ the homeless. Let’s truly clean up the homeless. As I have written about on this site, bathing and laundry are major problems for the homeless. If you think about it this lack of bathing and laundry availability are major barriers to employment to a group of people have enough barriers to finding jobs. The city has facilities at which the homeless could get clean, such as the Recreation Centers. These facilities are set up to use photo ID cards which would permit the city to avoid any abuses of the privilege and would also permit limits on the timing and length of visits. Rather than waste resources on senseless, malicious attempts to cleanse the city of homeless this would help to clean up the homeless.

All punning aside, this form of cleaning up homelessness has the potential to accomplish more than merely shuffling the homeless around and around the city. Think about what affect appearance has on how people are treated – especially when looking for work. I know I always feel better, both physically and physiologically, when I am freshly bathed – don’t you? Cleanliness leads to feeling better about yourself, which is the road to increased self-esteem and self-respect. These are the foundation supports required for the homeless to start to get back into the game of life, to take charge of their lives. Thus giving them hope to find work and homes. Yes I know that giving them a chance to be clean is not going to lead all the homeless off the streets. The point I have tried repeatedly to make is that Based on my up close and personal experiences what is required in dealing with homelessness, hunger and poverty is flexibility and a willingness to use many different approaches. Each approach may only affect some of those in need of help, but many programs and approaches together would have a chance to lead to significant reductions of the homeless population. We are dealing with people which means some will choose not to be helped, to make changes or any effort to change. That is reality. Reality is also that at least this proposed approach will accomplish something and has the potential to lead to many varied benifits. Unlike the current policies of both denying there is a large homeless population and chasing this nonexistent (denial is a favourite mindset) population from point to point in the city.

I suppose that the question is what kind of society or city are we? Do we really want to have an uncaring society where people are judged to be disposable? What is the character of the citizens of Abbotsford? Is it mean, self-centered, greedy and heartless? Or is it caring, supportive, courteous and helping? It is inevitable that we will find out. As your actions contribute to the outcome as to the spirit of our city, keep in mind the words of Demosthenes:

You cannot have a proud and chivalrous spirit if your conduct is mean and paltry; for whatever a man’s actions are, such must be his spirit.

Consider, Federal, Municipal

I voted – did you?

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I went and voted today. As I wrote earlier having become one of the “undesirables” I have a vested interest in protecting the Charter of Rights. This seems to be particularly important in light of the city government’s current war on the underclass to which I belong. I was allowed to cast my vote. It appears that in the eyes of the Federal government I still have citizenship rights and the right to cast my ballot. In fact it appears that the Federal government considers me a citizen of Abbotsford, in spite of what the city government may claim, as they accepted my right to vote in a downtown Abbotsford poll.

A tip of the hat to Elections Canada with regards to voting. Although they had to look up the procedure for a homeless person to vote, the people at the poll were courteous and unfazed by my homelessness. I needed ID and to swear an oath but that was to be expected and reasonable. Nice to see that at least one level of government is in touch with reality with respect to the existence of the homeless.

Caveat emptor, Homeless

NO letters to the editor for YOU! -local newspapers tell homeless

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Borrowing from Jerry Seinfeld, this is what the newspapers tell the homeless. Adding insult to the injury their failure to accurately inform the public of the truth and reality of the homeless situation in Abbbotsford by denying them any editorial voice as well.

“letters…include an address and daytime phone number to be used for verification purposes”

Let us consider these requirements. I am homeless, therefore I have no fixed address to give them. I cannot afford shelter or food and certainly have no money to waste on luxuries such as a phone. “Money talks” is an old expression, but seems true in ways I had not thought of before. The truly needy are so poor that newspapers deny them any voice. They will no doubt claim the need to be able to verify letters are not fake, perhaps even citing cases of fake letters in the past. Anyone, including some local journalists, who chose to make the effort required had no problem verifying the existence of, communicating with or meeting Mr. H. Although somehow I doubt they will claim laziness as their excuse for any verification problems.

The BC Press code states “newspapers first duty is to provide the public with accurate information”. Hmmm. It also calls on newspapers to “defend the right of expressing opinions no matter how controversial”. Hmmm. I suppose that neither actually requires newspapers to provide the with accurate information about major social issues. One could argue that an important part of defending a right of expression is to occasionally use that right. Homelessness is a major social issue. Newspapers claim to cover important issues so that people can make intelligent, informed decisions. HA! This is not a nice, neat, easy or simple issue to cover. It is not a popular issue, especially with the advertisers (whether businesses, local officials or government) and the powers that be. This has apparently led to news providers (newspapers, television, magazines) avoiding the issue and its assorted difficulties. Denying the homeless a voice and denying the public any true and accurate information for making decisions about addressing homelessness.

For the homeless such as myself, (who would like to begin to address the issue of the homeless and start to deal with the underlying problems that give rise to these social problems, rather than wasting money chasing the homeless from neighbourhood to neighbourhood around the city and all the other such wastes) it is far easier to tell about the reality of homelessness and make editorial comments to the entire world on the world wide web, than it is to reach our fellow citizens of Abbotsford through the local papers. Through the Internet I can speak to the world using www.geocities.com/homelessinabbotsford to share the arduous life lessons I have learned. Any citizen of Abbotsford interested in actually accomplishing something on this issue can join the rest of the world there to read my writings and get a view of what is really happening on the streets and within the current social assistance system with regards to this important issue. And hopefully, at some point, our local (news)papers.