Chris Rowley: Council candidate aims to advocate for those who don’t have a voice
By Tim Kalinowski on September 10, 2021.
Herald photo by Tim Kalinowski -
City council candidate Chris Rowley says he would be a voice for Lethbridge's low income and disadvantaged citizens.LETHBRIDGE HERALDtkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com
City council candidate Chris Rowley says he would be a voice for the disadvantaged and low income people in the community if elected this fall.
“I am running for city council because I feel the homeless and the low income (people) don’t have a voice on council,” he says; “especially this last term. So I want to be that voice going forward. I have a disability; so I am on AISH. That is where a lot of my advocacy comes from. Advocacy for those who don’t have a voice.”
Rowley also volunteers with many organizations in the community including the SAGE Clan, the United Way and the Lethbridge Overdose Prevention Society also known as LOPS.
Rowley said he believes in harm reduction, but also understands as a councillor he would have to accept that others do not.
“For me, harm reduction is only one piece of it– it’s not the end-all,” Rowley states. “So we need to come together on the things we agree on. So other pillars like detox beds, the counselling and all that. We need to work together on what we can come together on.
“So yes, I was a part of the harm reduction (pillar), but if I am going to work together with someone who disagrees with that I am like, ‘let’s advocate for those other pieces.'”
Rowley feels a big problem with the way policies in the city around homelessness have evolved is the way they have led to the institutionalization of poverty and addiction in the community, and he would seek to advocate to change that.
“These (social service) organizations have an investment to keep people homeless because they make money that way,” he states bluntly. “And that’s why The Mustard Seed has been doing this for how long and they haven’t been able to fix homelessness? Is it because they want to keep them homeless? I ask the question. I don’t know if it is true, but that’s the question that I ask.”
Rowley says councillors need to listen directly to those on the streets to determine what they need, and council needs to be open to having an ongoing dialogue with people on all sides of the issue who may differ greatly from one another, including those who may have a very negative view of those dealing with addiction and homelessness on the street.
“When you start to get to the bottom of why people feel that way, it’s not about the individuals on the street– it’s more about ‘the cops aren’t doing anything to protect my property,'” he says. “Well, it’s about your property then; it’s not about the individuals on the street. If it’s about property then let’s talk about that: is it a funding thing for the police? Where does that come from so we can try to figure that out? Because when we hate on people, or not like a demographic of people, there is usually a reason for that. So let’s talk about that. Let’s have an open dialogue.”
Rowley says Lethbridge is not truly “A Gateway to Opportunity” for many of its citizens, particularly those who are low income, have disabilities and belong to local First Nations. He would like to see that change through good policy development at the city council level. Public transit is one obvious area, he says, where this lack is readily apparent. Public transit serves mainly low-income riders in Lethbridge, but council this term, he says, has been focused more on the needs of seniors, students, and the bottom line when it comes to routing and transit policy.
“Right now it is all about saving money,” he says. “It is not about the service given to the people that need it; it’s about the money … As we get bigger as a city we are going to need more transit, and that obviously comes with a cost. Every transit (system) around the world runs at a deficit, but you need that as a service for your citizens.
“Your city is only as good as how you treat the low income or disabled people,” he concludes.
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Lethbridge taxpayer’s don’t have a voice. How about a candidate who advocates for us? This is just a repeat of the previous clowns.
He IS advocating for you if you pay attention to what he is saying. He’s fundamentally showing care for society as a whole which includes you.
Organizations like united way and sage clan don’t just do things then get funding from tax payers. The money comes from existing pools of funding set up by the provincial and federal governments. The funding is set aside first, for different projects, and if those organizations qualify, may get the funding.
Really, to save taxpayer money from waste there has to be advocacy and oversight on those levels of governance, not what some boondock southern alberta hillbilly town like Lethbridge does with their time and money.
So, Chris, you go into parks in residential areas and set up a LOPS tent, illegally, with no Health Canada Exemption and no application to Health Canada, as one of your leaders Tim Slaney tells media and police that you applied for, without anyone monitoring where the people go after they consume in your illegal tent in winter, that could very well die in some alley and think that this complete and utter disrespect for the addict, the residents and the taxpayers should make you someone that should govern!????
Seriously? You and your groups showed a complete and utter disrespect for Lethbridge and now you want on Council? Harm reduction doesn’t work and BC is the best example! 18 years of harm reduction with safe injection sites that gave addicts a false sense of security and protection have left a path of destruction and thousands dead!
If it worked then how come the issues have spread like cancer across BC and into Alberta? If it worked the number of addicts, number of fatal overdoses, number of homeless caused by the addiction and crime should all be low, but instead they have rose almost every year for that last 18 years!
It doesn’t work and we will not allow you or people like you to destroy our city like you have destroyed Vancouver, Victoria as well as other areas on the Island and now cities in the Okanagan, Prince George, etc. as it spreads.
When people like LOPS and Mom’s Stop the Harm disrespect our laws, Council and citizens you should be in jail, not on Council.
No doubt you will get the votes of your deviant friends, but you will never win a seat on Council.
The illegal sites operating in this city will be shut down and we are pushing for criminal charges to be laid to set a deterrent to people that have a complete disregard for life and complete disrespect for law and the citizens.
Millions are spent on programs in this city to combat the impact such as DOT, the Watch, Clean Sweep, and multiple other agencies that are supported by community donations, not to mention extra policing/EMS and private security that cost the Lethbridge taxpayer directly through city taxes! And donations to support many of the agencies needed to support addicts that get 3 meals per day, with groups wondering the streets day and night with lunch bags, food banks, and clothing provided by several agencies. All these have taken donations away that support other people in the community needs! But you fail to see that!
Not to mention the other costs that we all pay by way of our provincial and federal taxes! The money doesn’t drop out of the heavens to pay for all the services!
The SCS cost taxpayers over $22 million in the short time it operated and how many lives? Several died within blocks and even one in the parking lot! Just like in Vancouver, people die on the same block of the injection sites after leaving!
Shut down all the illegal sites and when someone overdoses, they should be immediately put in a facility for ‘observation’ for at least 24 hours while ‘professionals’ look after them and provide counselling opportunities!
One last fact:
After 18 years of harm reduction in the Vancouver DTES, where the ‘greater’ DTES of under 20,000 (DTES is only about 7,000) people have over $360 million blown annually to support over 300 social and housing programs, the issues continue to increase!
$360 million every year and this has been going for some time! Billions of dollars blown over the last 18 years! Image if that money were put into effective treatment programs!
How can someone with any common sense ignore the facts that are right in front of their face?