Category Archives: Politics

Consider, Homeless, Issues, Municipal, Politics

The Void – Choices and Consequences

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For all of us Life is a constant stream of choices.

On a daily basis we face and make choices that have consequences that affect our lives and the lives of others in minor and major ways.

We cannot avoid the consequences of our choices by refusing to choose, by trying to wait it out, hoping someone or something else will tell us what’s the best course of action or a ‘solution’ will magically appear or that someone will eventually tell you what you want to hear.

“When you have to make a choice and don’t make it, that is in itself a choice.

William James

Complicating the consequences that befall us is the fact that the little choices that seem insignificant can turn out to carry major consequences as life unwinds and we find out that the tiny decisions we make are not as divorced from our major life decisions as we thought or wished.

Major choices, little choices, choices made by not choosing – it all comes down to the same question, a question of taking responsibility, of accepting responsibility for the consequences our choices, behaviours and actions have on our lives and the lives of others.

Justifying, rationalization, blaming, excuse making. ‘it is not our responsibility’ will not prevent the consequences of our actions and inactions from coming home to roost.

Don’t like what you see as you drive along Gladys Avenue? What you see is the consequences of the city’s choice to behave as ‘The Void’ on homelessness and its interconnected issues, rather than acting responsibly and taking effective action.

What is taking place along Gladys should not  be a surprised to anyone.

Victoria also had a policy of harassing their homeless. At least they did until 2009 when the BC court of appeals ruled that in a city where the city government had failed to address the issue of homelessness or take action on affordable housing, the homeless had the right to camp in city parks.

Suddenly Victoria’s council and mayor were motivated to acquire backbones and begin to take needed actions to address homelessness.

Among the first actions taken in Victoria was a Housing First project; a solid base to build on in putting in place the services and supports needed for recovery.

I wonder if Abbotsford’s sudden tolerance with the camps on Gladys Avenue results from the city’s struggle to stay out of court until after municipal elections in November? The mayor, councillors, the city cannot avoid the consequences of their behaviours –  facing Pivot Legal Society in court over [among other things] the right of the homeless to camp in city parks.

Because, not only has the City of Abbotsford failed to take action on homelessness and affordable housing, the city has actively blocked affordable housing, recovery oriented housing and services from being built by BC Housing and Abbotsford Community Services.

I suspect that once the consequences of the mayor and councillor’s behaviour has camps sprouting up around Mill Lake Abbotsford’s mayor and city councillors will find themselves highly motivated, as did Victoria’s mayor and councillor’s in 2009, to support Housing First projects, other affordable housing initiatives and the providing of the supports and services to reduce homelessness, substance use, mental illness on city streets.

Mankind’s greatest gift, also its greatest curse, is that we have free choice.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Sadly, it seems that only something as drastic and unpleasant as a court ruling that the city can either address the issues or have the homeless camping at Mill Lake, will motivate the city to realistically and effectively address these issues.

Highly ironic that a mayor and city councillors so ethically challenged that only the negative consequences of their behaviours will/can motivate them to address these social issues, felt they had the right to spend taxpayer dollars to instruct, to lecture, the citizens of Abbotsford on the correct way citizens should behave and about character via their ‘Character Council.’

One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes… and the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.

Eleanor Roosevelt

behaviour, Homeless, Issues, Municipal, Politics

Into The Void

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From 2006 – 2014 the recommendations of Abbotsford’s Social Advisory Committee to City Council were, in the words of members of the committee, ‘disappearing into a void’.

Eight years of wasting the lives of the homeless.

Eight years of wasting the time and effort of the citizens who were members of ASDAC.

And people wonder why I am so cynical about City Council’s sudden creation of a Task Force with an election looming in November 2014 and the only action of significance taken by the mayor and city councillors on homelessness was telling the provincial government to take their $2.5 million dollars for construction and all the millions that would have provided the support necessary to begin to get out of the recycling of those with substance use issues and get into recover oriented housing and services, and give those millions of dollars to a city that cares..

Mental illness, substance use, addiction…….. no true progress of significance can be made until the individual is ready. Personal responsibility and the commitment to doing the years of hard slogging, to dealing with all the pain, darkness and unpleasantness you will have to slog through to find recovery, wellness and happiness.

Until Abbotsford has a City Council with a sense of personal responsibility and a commitment to doing what is needed to address these issues, however long it takes; to providing leadership and the backbone demanded by this matter……. all the increasing social issues, not just homelessness and substance use, that cities face today will continue to worsen in Abbotsford.

Reality will be reality, truth will be truth, regardless of lack of understanding, disbelief, or ignorance on the part of anyone.

The failure to pay attention that results from the mayor and council’s wilful refusal to acknowledge any reality they did not want to see has cost – and continues to cost – Abbotsford taxpayers dearly. As recent media reports have highlighted one of the major costs of council’s refusal to see anything but what they want to see is the $23 million dollars squandered on the Heat debacle and the $100+ million spent on a building that is empty because it was not needed……..except in the fantasy world that the mayor and members of council dwell in.

‘Learning more’ is a time tested way for politicians to avoid applying what we already know. Any good general, any good leader, can tell you that the only thing that constant analysis achieves is paralysis.

I have spoken with several members of the task force, including previous members of ASDAC who feel they need to give Abbotsford’s mayor and councillors a chance to show that the task force is not simply cover or camouflage for mayor and council who have failed to address homelessness with any effectiveness – or thought.

In thinking about the task force and its members it occurs to me that, should they so choose, the members of the task force can choose to act in the best interests of the homeless and the city – no matter what the mayor and council’s purpose in forming the taskforce was.

Should the members of the task force choose to take the bit firmly in their teeth the first order of business is to declare that it is time to stop recycling people through the traditional system of treatment and implement the services and supports that research and outcomes show to be effective in creating recovery and wellness.

The reason Housing First is part of addressing homelessness in those communities committed to reducing homelessness and dealing with mental illness and substance use in a long term and effective manner, is because Housing First was developed to be about recovery and wellness – about breaking the ‘business as usual’ cycle of recycling people through the system..

Abbotsford Community Services Housing First proposal was the right proposal, in the right location, the best choice as a first step to changing from recycling to recovery and to begin to put in place the resources, services and supports necessary for recovery.

If members of the task force intend to ‘damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead’ and be effective in dealing with homelessness in Abbotsford then their first order of business must be to stand up and tell mayor and council that the most important first step in addressing homelessness is to commit to getting out of recycling and into recovery and that committing to recovery requires council to approve and support the ACS housing proposal.

Let’s make it clear where the task force, mayor, city councillors, citizens – everyone – stands on the nitty gritty reality of homelessness:

Are you prepared to commit to taking the necessary actions, the actions that have been demonstrated to be effective in reducing homelessness, recovery from mental illness, substance use and addiction?

Or are you committed to saying the right things while opposing what has been proven effective around the world in reducing homelessness and fostering recovery and wellness?

It is time to stand up and be counted. Because the task force, best practices, beginning to effectively promote and support recovery and wellness will accomplish NOTHING unless we, as a community are prepared and committed to taking effective action(s).

Do, or do not. There is no try. Yoda

Homeless, Issues, Municipal, Politics

You Could be Right

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With the stories in the Abbotsford News highlighting that Abbotsford’s City Councillors squandered $23.1 million dollars [5.24 + 8.32 + 5.5 + 4.04* = 23.1     *ballpark estimate for year 5 subsidies] on their Great White Elephant ego project [AKA Abbotsford Sports and Entertainment Centre] and buying the presence of the Heat as a tenant for their empty ego trip………….

I have to admit there is solid evidence that Mr. Eric Myrholm was right when he asserted that Abbotsford council and staff have the mental capacity of a cumquat and thus need a Task Force and more study of homelessness..

Furthermore I acknowledge that the evidence provided by council’s actions over the past decade would support, perhaps better support, the lack of mental capacity at City Hall hypothesis than it does my hypothesis that stalling is the reason council has taken no effective or intelligent actions to address homelessness in the past decade.

A decades worth of forums, a decades worth of best practices and the outcomes from those practices in other cities, a decades worth of research, six years of having an advisory committee for council, a social planner as part of the planning process, the decision that the city no longer requires a social planner, overwhelming evidence in support of the ACS Housing First proposal, council’s self described irrational voting down of the ACS proposal and provincial funding, council’s need to create a Task Force………

Provide piece after piece of evidence to support the ‘having the intelligence of a cumquat’ hypothesis as to why Abbotsford city council and city hall felt they did not have enough information to make intelligent decisions vis-à-vis homelessness.

Lack of metal capacity could explain the fact that, over the Easter long weekend, without consulting their Task Force and ignoring what advice they did get, the city – having been presented with a handy excuse – descended upon a homeless camp that had been a thorn in their side and removed it.

As I say he could be right.

The only point I can definitely say that Mr. Myrholm is wrong about is coming up with a great solution.

The more you know about mental health, substance use, homelessness, the economics of poverty, the economy, political gamesmanship, business, finance, wilful denial,  the insistence on seeing [being told] what they want to hear and ignoring reality…….

The more knowledge and experience you have with issues involving people and the complexities introduced by the psychological. sociological, biological and cultural components of individuals……

The more you understand that issues and situations involving people have no nice neat solutions; that with people what you would expect to be the outcome of an action is often totally wrong and the outcome you get is something unexpected and counterintuitive.

Be aware that when I am speaking of the involvement of people in an issue such as homelessness, the term people doesn’t include just the homeless but all of us.

Because one of the hard facts I do know is that the mistaken information and beliefs held by the public are major obstacles to addressing not just the issue of homelessness but many of the issues and challenges facing us today.

I can tell you the most important action we need to take is to get out of the recycling of people business and get in to the recovery business. That is why the Housing First – a recovery based approach – project proposed by ACS was important.

I can tell you what course and direction individuals need to follow and move in to find wellness; I can tell you that what they need to do, while similar, is different for each unique individual; I can tell you what resources, supports and services we need to put in place to help people achieve wellness and recovery; I can tell you what best practices are available to provide the resources, supports and services needed and what outcomes those practices achieve; I can share my experiences, the knowledge and understanding I have gained and where/how it was gained.

I cannot force people to change, I cannot force them to want to change, to abandon wilful denial, much less act to address the issues associated with homelessness.

I can write; advocate; share; educate; make knowledge, resources outcomes and best practices available; encourage; support……

And I can remind people that when faced with a complex problem involving people and without nice neat [perhaps any] solutions the most important action is to choose to start.

“I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing, and what a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while actually producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.”   Petronius

Homeless, Municipal, Politics

Perhaps You Should Listen to What You Say?

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Do you ever find yourself wondering if politicians ever bother to actually listen to what they are saying?

Do politicians ever actually THINK about what they are saying?

Or must politicians be able to disconnect their brains and/or shut off their ears before they can spout what comes out of their mouths?

How have we reached a point where politicians don’t even try to dazzle us with brilliance but go straight to baffling with bullshit?

Watching Bruce Banman on Unfiltered with Jill Krop had me shaking my head and wondering ‘does Banman ever listen to what he is saying?’

I don’t know if she was, but Jill Krop certainly looked flabbergasted when Bruce Banman appeared on her show – and began to speak longingly of the ‘good old days’ when “We got to use shock therapy, sterilization, frontal lobotomies.” And how “…back in the day we used to do things like it was a never ending prison sentence.”

Until that bad, bad Supreme Court decided that a health issue, even a mental health issue, did not take away a person’s rights TO NOT BE BRUTILIZED by the government.

After listening to Bruce Banman speak longingly of the depraved treatment so many endured at the hands of the government, it was no wonder Ms Krop was off balance when Banman began to regurgitate the different amounts spent by the different Health Authorities on mental health as he sought to baffle with bullshit and shift responsibility to Fraser Health for his [and his cronies] blowing off $2.5 million to build, and $$$$$ millions more to operate and provide services, from  the provincial government for the Abbotsford Community Services Housing First housing.

I do mean ‘baffle with bullshit’. Bruce Banman’s contention was that the problem was that Fraser Health spent the lowest amount per capita on mental health services of the five health regions. The implication being that throwing money at the problem would fix it.

Included in Mr. Banman’s litany of numbers was the fact that Costal Health spends considerably more per capita on mental health than Fraser Health. Ignoring the fact Costal Health will be reducing their spending on mental health and cutting mental health services in the coming fiscal year [April 1, 2014 – March 31, 2015].

More importantly, the implication Mr. Banman was making, that spending per capita had a direct correlation to the mental health of citizens in the health region, means:

Given:    that per capita spending determines the mental health of a Health Region

And:       that Costal Health spends significantly more per capita than Fraser Health

Then:     the cities in the Fraser Health region have a worse  problem with metal illness, substance use and homelessness than does Vancouver.

Perhaps someone should take Mr. Banman downtown Vancouver and show him Hastings?

Speaking of baffling with bullshit, let’s examine Mr. Banman’s excuse mongering for an irrational [as John Smith described his vote] vote against the ACS housing proposal.

Mr. Banman loudly proclaimed that ACS should have been talking to the ADBA from the moment ACS began speaking to BC Housing.

Setting aside the fact the ADBA’s rabid, fear mongering Not In My Back Yard response to the ACS housing proposal makes it clear there was nothing ACS could do that would cause the ABDA to behave rationally and in a civically responsible manner…..exactly what was ACS to be talking to the ADBA about.

It was not until ACS and BC Housing had reached their agreement that ACS had anything concrete to take to the public.

Anything prior to that point would be speculation, rumour, Maybes, “I heard that……”, fear mongering, lies, false and misleading statements – “you have to listen to the people in the neighbourhood” [unless the person or business proposing the rezoning contributes to your election campaign].

It is because the behaviour in the preceding paragraph is exactly what has happened in the past [and what happened to the ACS proposal even though the reality of the project was clearly spelled out and accessible to anyone who was interested in facts, not fiction] that BC Housing requires all the Ts be crossed and the Is dotted before a project is presented to the public.

And what was that nonsense about C7 zoning being sacrosanct? There was no trouble with re-zoning for social enterprise housing at the Fraser Valley Inn……..of course that was housing for young professional and University students. And how is it Money Mart is downtown when C7 zoning excludes that type of financial business unless it is a bank?

If services for the people and the needs of the community are not permitted, why was ACS included in the C7 zone rather than excluded? Was it to limit the services ACS could offer unless it relocated services to a different location in Abbotsford, as happened with the moving of Substance Use counselling to Clearbrook?

Then there is the matter of funding for the ACS housing proposal.

BC’s Finance Minister [one of Abbotsford’s MLAs] in a series of interviews with local media stated clearly that the ACS housing proposal would be built where and how proposed or the money would leave Abbotsford and go to ‘a community that was committed to building housing to serve the needs of the homeless’.

And the reaction of Mr. Banman and his nay saying council cronies?

That the Finance Minister was joking? Mistaken? Telling a Fib? Didn’t mean what he said in the interviews?

That Fraser Health, under provincial review for going $50 million over its budget for the past 3 years, would miraculously find millions of dollars to spend on housing in Abbotsford? After Abbotsford had turned down millions of dollars for housing from BC Housing? With Abbotsford insisting that housing conform to the traditional recycling people model, rather than the recovery based Housing First model?

And just when you think the excuses out of City Hall on homelessness could not get any lamer and the bumbling any more Pink Pantherish, Mr. Banman attains a new level of lame when the promise of a plan to address homelessness in Abbotsford turned out to be an announcement of the formation of a Task Force.

A task force made up of citizens who would tell council how to deal with homelessness and other social issues just as the Abbotsford Social Development Advisory Committee was to do – at least before ASDAC told mayor and council to approve the ACS housing proposal.

Not a bold roar from Abbotsford City hall but a loud WIMPER; as City Hall declares that in over a decade of studying the issue of homelessness City Hall has learned – Nothing.

Sigh.

At this point I am not looking to be dazzled by brilliance, I will settle for rational behaviour.

Because the politician’s reliance on baffling with bullshit has dug all levels of government into financial holes of such proportions, we cannot afford the negative consequences if we fail to stop digging.

Homeless, Municipal, Politics

We Got Ourselves a Task Force

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The purpose of the Task Force announced by Bruce Banman and headed by John Smith is:

  1. Cover the posteriors of Abbotsford’s mayor and city councillors Smith, Barkman and McGregor.
  2. Distract citizens and media from the mayor and city councillors Smith, Barkman and McGregor blowing off a $2.5 million capital grant to build Housing First housing for the homeless and $$$$$ millions more in funding for operations and programs – all the while pitifully crying about the need for senior levels of government to provide funding for homeless initiatives.
  3. Provide the illusion that Abbotsford’s mayor and fellow nay-saying city councillors Smith, Barkman and McGregor are taking positive action on homelessness in Abbotsford.
  4. Provide an excuse for the City of Abbotsford to DO NOTHING because it is waiting for the Task Force to report on what action the city needs to take.
  5. Baffle citizens, the media, Canadians and the world with bullshit.
  6. Allow the City of Abbotsford to return to chasing the homeless pointlessly from location to location around the city.
  7. Enhance Abbotsford’s reputation for incompetence, hateful and irrational behaviours – particularly in regards to the homeless
  8. All of the Above.

Instead of naming a Task Force why didn’t the mayor and councillors Smith, Barkman and McGregor create a committee to advise them on social issues such as homelessness? Oh wait, a previous mayor and city council already did that didn’t they? Several years ago [three elections ago] the excuse of the day for Abbotsford politicians was “we cannot do anything until we get an advisory committee made up of the ‘right’ citizens that can tell us what we need to do”. Which bought mayor and city councillors several years of pointlessly chasing the homeless around the city before the passage of time forced them to actually create the Abbotsford Social Development Advisory Committee. Whereupon the city policy vis-à-vis the homeless……continued to be chasing the homeless pointlessly around the city. In creating the Task Force are the mayor and councillors Smith, Barkman and McGregor saying the members of ASDAC were the ‘wrong’ citizens and are incompetent bunglers who are incapable of providing the city with any useful or effective advice on addressing homelessness and that ASDAC should be ended? Or is it that ASDAC made the fatal mistake of telling the mayor and councillors Smith, Barkman and McGregor what they did not want to hear – that approving the Abbotsford Community Services housing first proposal was a necessary first small step in beginning to effectively address homelessness in Abbotsford? What happens if the Task Force, at the end of its first meeting, advises that council revisit their decision and rezone the ACS property so that construction can start immediately on housing based on the recovery focused Housing First approach rather than continuing to use the traditional recycling approach? Will the mayor and councillors Smith, Barkman and McGregor appoint a new Task Force? And continue to appoint new Task Forces until they get a Task Force that tells them what they want to hear – chase the homeless out of the city? If it were not for the cost to taxpayers and the cost to the lives of the homeless this keystone cops routine would be laughable, pitiful but laughable. But there is nothing funny about the negative consequences on people’s lives, on Abbotsford, that result from the actions of the mayor and his cronies.