It’s time for tent city to fold up.
It is undeniable that a lack of affordable housing is a serious problem in the Cowichan Valley, as it is in many places on Vancouver Island.
Rents are driven ever higher as availability is scarce. A number of apartment buildings in Duncan are in extremely undesirable condition, and even they are often out of reach for low-end renters.
But tent city in downtown Duncan’s Charles Hoey Park is not the answer.
The question must be asked at this point: what is it that those in tent city want out of this?
If bringing more attention to the problem was the idea, well done, you’ve made your point. Time to move on.
The camp’s leader and founder (so to speak) Crissy Brett isn’t homeless at all, and it’s been made clear that the rest of the tent residents could all have a place at Warmland House shelter if they want it. But that offer hasn’t been good enough. So what is?
The answer to the affordable housing problem is not one easily solved, particularly when mental illness and drug addiction play such a large role in homelessness. Physical accommodation is just one piece of a big, complicated puzzle. The campers are not going to be able to stay where they are until the problem is solved, that’s simply unrealistic.
We have a lot of compassion for the folks who find themselves without a roof over their heads, which is why we don’t want to see them in a situation like what developed in Victoria’s tent city, which was infested with rats, drugs and crime, and was a serious health hazard by the time it was finally taken down.
We don’t want to see it inflicted on the rest of our community, either.
The majority of the community doesn’t deserve to be driven out of their public park.
Per the law, these folks are welcome to pitch their tents in the park overnight, but are not allowed to erect this kind of semi-permanent residence. This seems like a fair compromise. This way, everyone can enjoy the public space without feeling intimidated. And yes, the tent city folks may not mean to be intimidating, but as a unit, they are.
It’s time to move on to real solutions.