Dear editor,
I cannot for one moment imagine that building a shelter for the homeless in the heart of the business district of downtown Courtenay would be in the best interests of anyone other than the migrating vagrants that it will attract, because if 'you build it they will come.'
Then our wonderful downtown area will look and smell just like parts of Victoria where tourists have to step over vomit and human feces and subjected to the pungent smell of urine as they make their way to and from their upscale hotels and/or high-end eating establishments in parts of the downtown area.
Sounds awful doesn't it?
Well, time for a reality check folks because this is what happens in areas where the homeless congregate. They hang out in doorways, panhandle, drink alcohol, do drugs and defecate and urinate wherever they happen to be and you are only fooling yourselves if you think this won't happen even if we build a shelter for them.
If you don't believe me then go take a walk from one of those upscale hotels within strolling distance of the Port Angeles ferry terminal in downtown Victoria and see how much you enjoy the disgusting sights of filth and smells left behind by homeless people.
The powers that be who decided that the location on Cliffe Avenue was a good location need to give their heads a good shake. If the proposed location ends up being the permanent building location, people, especially tourists will not feel safe in using the many surrounding business facilities and I fully support the Chamber of Commerce for standing up and speaking out.
Smells and filth aside, how safe do you think the average person will feel using the CIBC ATM machine, Shoppers Drug Mart or the liquor store, especially after dark?
This decision is not up to the whims of the so-called do-gooders who have been writing newspaper articles in support of the shelter's proposed location. You people should also give your heads a good shake because it is you who will be responsible for destroying downtown businesses.
You will be the reason customers avoid these establishments and you the reason why our tax dollars will have suddenly dried up. It is the livelihood of those merchants who have long financially supported the city of Courtenay that you are jeopardizing.
Now before all you so called do-gooders bite my head off, let me say that I am in total favor in using our tax dollars to build a shelter for the homeless and by homeless, I mean those who are truly homeless and were born in this area or have at least lived in this area for a long time and not those who have migrated here because they are young or prefer not to work, or have learned how to fleece the system.
We have legitimate homeless people here in the Valley and we have to look out for our own period and not those who will wander into Courtenay simply because they have heard there is a lovely, new shelter here.
Homelessness if a sad fact, however in a lot of cases it is because as a society we have enabled them. Ralph Klein may actually have had the right idea when instead of giving his province's migrating homeless benefits, he instead gave them a one-way ticket back to the home of their origin.
I can't imagine that given the choice any homeless person would want to live in a building where they would be on constant public display of anyone driving along Cliffe Avenue. If they were consulted I'm willing to bet that the homeless would much rather live in a shelter away from the perception of judging eyes in the downtown business district.
I seem to remember the city turning down a request by a local church who wanted to build housing for those less fortunate, out on Cumberland road. At least there the homeless would have been close to the food bank.
Maxwell Brown,
Courtenay