In the Beach, Out of the Cold

I wrote earlier about a group of people in the Beach (or the Beaches) who seemed to think that it was their right to tell a church it could not house twelve homeless people one night a week for twelve weeks. It seems their objections have been overcome, and the Church now has the go ahead.

Of course, all of this was absurd from the start, for the following three reasons:

i) A church shouldn't have to ask anyone for permission to undertake its duties, provided they are within the law.
ii) The total lack of evidence that such programs increase crime rates and reduce property values aside, there are already homeless people in the Beach. That they go unnoticed is just one more reason to support the program.
iii) If you think that government alone is going to solve the problems of homelessness than you are hoping against hope. Objecting to those organizations who are trying to step into the breach is to take an active role in worsening the conditions of those on the street.

Thankfully better senses have prevailed. Now, I wonder what are this person's views now. Someone should ask her, and someone should remind voters that she tried to stop this.

UPDATE: I've recieved quite a good comment about this post, which I shall reprint in it's entirety. I am happy to strikethrough the last paragraph of my original post, though I shall leave it up for the purposes of transparency. Thanks, Sean.

I live in the area, and I appreciate your attention to this issue. My neighbours who have opposed this project have dishonoured themselves and embarassed our community.That said, I'm not sure that Sandra Bussin ever actually opposed the project, her rather tortured comments on the matter notwithstanding. In discussion the other night with a fellow trying to whip up opposition to the Church's proposal, he saved his fiercest criticisms for Bussin, accusing her of fixing the consultation process in order to ensure that the proposal would succeed. In addition, she has been quoted in other local media as supporting project. I'm no supporter of hers, and she's certainly made a hash of things, but I don't think that she can fairly be described as an opponent of the project.Sadly, the real opponents continue to hide behind their lawyer, refusing to publicly identify themselves or even indicate their number. We have no way of knowing whether the protest was organized by a small or large number of protesters. I gather there were a number of mildly concerned residents who were glad to attend the meeting and obtain more information, but each of these people I spoke with was at pains to distance themselves from the people who hired the lawyer, claiming not to know how those homeowners were. The Church made a tactical error, I think, in not challenging the opponents to identify themselves, allowing them to delay this worthy initiative in the most cowardly possible, besmirching the whole community without putting their personal reputations on the line.

Not In My Beach

Both the Globe and the Star have good articles on how some residents of the Beach (or the Beaches, for the holdouts) are objecting to a proposal by an Anglican parish to once-weekly for twelve weeks host twelve homeless people overnight. I thought this quote from a local councilor was particularly choice:

Local Councillor Sandra Bussin said the residents are concerned about supervision and wonder whether there is a need for this program. Ms. Bussin also wonders whether the program is effective.

"I understand a number of the Out of the Colds are very volunteer-driven, there's many hours, people are exhausted by this level of service and there's a move away because of the amount of effort that goes into it," she said.

The Good Councilor obviously has first the concerns of the worst-off. And she's probably right: housing people in a church just doesn't make much sense. There are no beds, maybe no showers, and it's just not comfortable. So, maybe we could find a better place. I propose 316 Glen Manor Dr. It's in a great part of the Beach, and I suspect that it's quite nice digs. And, since Sandra Bussin has no trouble telling a church how it's resources should and shouldn't be used, I am sure she would have no trouble with me telling her how her living room should be used.