Homelessness is unacceptable in this province
I am writing to encourage everyone who lives in the Cowichan Valley to write our provincial government to let them know that homelessness is not an option we support.
A recent count in our area put the number of absolutely homeless people (children, women and men) at close to 80, with hundreds more on the verge of losing the inadequate shelter they have. They face another winter living in vehicles, tents, tarps and doorways. Trying to find refuge in sheds, lean-tos, carports and under bridges, while rain, snow and frost impair their ability to live.
Our governments (both Liberal and NDP) supported over 60,000 homeless people this summer, when wildfires raged and they were evacuated by government order. Local folk are also homeless by government order, as they cannot afford to house themselves adequately, if at all, because our government has set assistance and wage rates below the cost of housing in our area.
Given the experience of this summer, I am confident our government can temporarily house everyone needing shelter, while working on longer term solutions to bring down the cost of housing, assist folk with a variety of medical issues that impede their ability to function, and ensure adequate pension and employment incomes for folk who are not able (by reason of age or function) to find income adequate to their needs.
I am a bit surprised we must take this step, given the campaign platform and historic stance of the NDP with respect to folk mired in poverty. Perhaps they and their supporters in the Green Party need to know we are not willing to live in a country where begging, break-ins, and wages below the poverty line are considered acceptable responses to poverty.
Please take a moment to write them and let them know what you think about people being allowed to freeze on our doorsteps in our province. I am sure they will act if they know you care.
Keith Simmonds
Minister, Duncan United Church