Legislation needed to address homeless camps

By Lethbridge Herald on June 8, 2022.

Editor: 

As the weather warms, we have an influx of transients flowing into our city from other provinces and cities since we have so many services set up to support them. We also have grey areas in our Canadian legal system that slow some enforcement efforts in this province from moving encampments along. 

There is precedent set, “Victoria vs Adams”, that allow shelters to be set up in some circumstances where there are no housing/sheltering services available, but it doesn’t allow homeless to set up and break laws without facing eviction from the area. It is under the Charter, Section 7 that many stand on allowing shelters for homeless, but that is when an area is not supplying ‘reasonable’ housing/shelter services. We are!

Where will it end? Vancouver DTES spends over $360 million annually on social and housing services with no end in sight for a total population of under 20,000 people in the DTES alone. They continue to grow their services, but more people arrive, attracted by all the services provided.

Lethbridge is heading down that road! Politicians were elected to pass legislation to protect people, instead they spend most of their time trying to bring down governments or fighting amongst themselves, rarely getting needed legislation passed so law enforcement have clear and defined rules to enforce.

There just is no excuse for legislation not being in place! So, now we have to give up our parks and our neighbourhoods because of grey areas in our legal system!

Nothing like trying to use the Civic Center track with addicts doing drugs or sleeping all day, leaving piles of feces to dodge, so they can wreak havoc all night, committing crimes.

So, why work? Why pay taxes? 

Why don’t we all just sell our homes, buy a wagon, a tarp, a sleeping bag and become urban campers in the parks, where two to three different groups bring food and drink right to you throughout day night or you can go to the soup kitchen daily for meals, clothes are given free by other organizations, and when your support cheque comes you can blow it all on alcohol and drugs. No more worries if you need EMS because it is free now! And since the world is falling apart, we can even fog our brains with free opioids prescribed! 

Blame the politicians! Blame yourselves!

Barry Ewing

Lethbridge