Category Archives: Issues

Addiction, behaviour, Hmmm, Issues, Municipal, Provincial

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

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Do we need more detox beds in Fraser Health?  Yes.

Is the (un)effectiveness of Fraser Health’s mobile detox programs, succinctly summed up in the words of those seeking  detox: “they [Fraser Health] are not looking for people needing detox, they [Fraser Health] are looking for people already detoxed”? Yes.

Are Fraser Health. our Provincial and Federal governments doing a poorer and poorer job of providing the support needed for people to find recovery and wellness even as our understanding of what supports are needed grows? Yes.

Does this excuse Abbotsford City Council’s childish ‘I am going to hold my breath until I turn blue if I do not get my own way’ attitude? No.

Does this excuse Abbotsford City Council’s ‘I am taking my toys and going home’ threats? No.

Does this provide an excuse for Abbotsford City Council to continue to ignore the facts about substance use and Harm Reduction? No.

For those who are seeking any excuse to justify their dogmatic opposition to harm reduction? I refer you to the words of Councillor John Smith: “If they aren’t going to give us detox . . . then quite frankly, [the harm reduction issue] is going nowhere with me.”

Then we have the sophistry of “…suggested that if Fraser Health was truly committed to providing harm reduction services in Abbotsford the first thing it should do is step up and fund the Warm Zone.”

I do not recall Council providing leadership, beating the bushes or pressuring senior levels of government to raise funds to keep the Warm, Zone open and operating. Now suddenly they are publically supportive of keeping the warm zone open, concerned about the consequences for those who depend on the Warm Zones services?

But then when the facts, experience and evidence are all against you and you are left clutching at straws, any excuse will do.

City Council’s finger pointing at Fraser Health on this matter brings to mind the quintessential Mom question, ‘if Fraser Health was jumping off the Lion’s Gate Bridge would you jump as well?’

Although……that does bring to mind the question: “what do you call the river bottom under the Lion’s Gate Bridge being littered with the bodies of municipal politicians, provincial and federal politicians and want-to-be ‘same old’ politicians and executives from BC Health? ”

A solid step towards good governance and healthy priorities by municipal, provincial and federal governments.

Detox, the Warm Zone – what healthcare is council advocating Fraser Health cut from services provided to the citizens of Abbotsford? Because when you call on Fraser Health (or any Health Region) to spend money on services, capital projects etc not included in their budgets, you are calling on the Health Regions to cut existing (budgeted) items to free up the funds to pay for the new (non budgeted) spending.

So what healthcare does council want to cut to pay for Detox and the Warm Zone?

Mayor and Council need to remember that Fraser Health can only spend the money the provincial government gives them. Remember that, unlike Abbotsford City Council,  Fraser Health cannot simply create a water crisis and scare/panic taxpayers into borrowing tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to cover past, present and future misspending.

As to council’s sudden concern about detox……on my list of programs and services (including appropriate, affordable housing)  required in Abbotsford to help people achieve recovery and wellness, detox is well down my list of priorities. It is a waste of money to push people through detox and treatment without providing the support programs, services and housing that would aid them to remain in recovery more than a few days, weeks or months as is currently the case (less than 5% are substance free one year after ‘graduation’ from treatment)..

The reality of addiction and substance use is reflected in Councillor MacGregor’s statement that the issue of drug abuse needed a “layered” approach and Councillor Barkman stressing there is no “silver bullet” to substance abuse and that building relationships is critical to helping people escape addiction.

Harm: (noun) physical [of or pertaining to the body] injury or mental damage; hurt. (verb used with object) to do or cause harm to; injure; damage; hurt.

Reduction: (noun) the act of reducing [bringing down to a smaller extent, size, amount, number etc.] or the state of being reduced [to become lessened] .

I will be dropping a dictionary off at the mayor’s office to facilitate and encourage council to seek facts and understanding about what Harm Reduction is and is not – and to express my support for Harm Reduction and making Abbotsford a healthier place for ALL who live in the City.

Should you have a dictionary you would like to spare for council………

Consider, Issues, Provincial

Ethics and Choice

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Abbotsford City Council has $1.73 million to subsidize Entertainment and Sports……

Abbotsford City Council has an additional $1.1 million to subsidize the ownership of a professional hockey team……

Abbotsford City Council has another $115,000 to subsidize golf plus clubhouse food and beverage services……

And Abbotsford City Council has $0.00 to keep the warm zone open.

Council has $2.945 million for frivolous pursuits and $0.00 for saving, reclaiming and transforming lives.

A budget – spending – reflects the values and ethics of Council, our City and its people.

$3 million to subsidize amusing ourselves and $0.00 to reach out to those in our City in desperate need of love and caring reflects a Council, a City, a people who are not simply ethically challenged, but suffering a critical ethical deficit.

Not that this is the first time a city, a people, have suffered a critical ethical deficit.

And……Abbotsford Council does have its Coliseum, a group of disposable people and just down the road – the lions at the Greater Vancouver Zoo……

“Even the most rational approach to ethics is defenceless if there isn’t the will to do what is right” Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Issues, Municipal

A New Front?

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Homelessness, Poverty, Affordable Housing, Hunger are social issues about which Abbotsford City Council uses all the right buzzwords while accomplishing nothing – or at least nothing of a positive nature.

Thus you have Olympic housing rolling through Abbotsford on its way to provide affordable housing in Chilliwack. And the opportunity of $11 million dollars of financial funding for affordable housing from the provincial government lost to city council’s inaction and ineffective, inappropriate actions.

You have the Warm Zone on the verge of closing their doors despite support from the police department and concerns the police have about the repercussions should the Warm Zone close its door.

Mayhap if the woman of the Warm Zone were to re-organize into a hockey based operation, put together a franchise and join the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, they could gain access to the millions of dollars City Council has to subsidise profession hockey franchises?

With City Hall’s latest ethnic cleansing campaign against the homeless in full swing and destroying what shelter the homeless have to provide some protection from the elements, members of the homeless community find themselves soaking wet, cold and faced with the need to find a place to warm up in order to survive.

Finding oneself watching a soaking wet human being huddled into himself  and shivering uncontrollably, desperate for warmth to avoid dying of ‘natural causes’ – as if there is anything natural in our wealthy society about a homeless person dying of hypothermia – brings you face to face with society’s thoughtless indifference.

It is the experience of living with the consequences of City actions that had the homeless, the poor, the hungry and other members of Abbotsford’s growing underclass questioning whether city council was expanding its ethnic cleansing to include the hungry poor among the ‘unworthy’ to be cleansed from Abbotsford when the signs suddenly appeared along Gladys Avenue.

The disquieting growth in the number of seniors, families and others needing to avail themselves of the food distributed and meals served at noon means vehicles spill along Gladys Avenue. No parking meant being unable to park along Gladys Avenue because a parking ticket represents a disaster they cannot afford. No parking meant being forced not to come for food, to go hungry.

The City stated their reason for the appearance of the no parking signs along Gladys Avenue……..but the City’s ‘reasons’ have often been indistinguishable from excuses.

On the other hand the City has a long and well established history of failing to think its actions through with costly, often very costly, consequences for Abbotsford citizens.

Fortunately the appearance of the no parking signage was noted immediately, brought to the City Hall’s attention and resulted in ‘No Parking’ becoming ‘2 Hour Parking’ in the ‘Food Zone’. Which should ensure that ‘No Parking’ does not turn into ‘No Food for You!’.

Unresolved however is the appearance of ‘No Parking’ signs raising fears that this was the opening move to add the hungry poor to those the City feels need to be cleansed, and what that fear signifies about city council, Abbotsford and its citizens.