I have great sympathy for what the residents living close to Danbrook Park are experiencing – none of us would want that atmosphere around our home.
At the same time, I find the lack of compassion of many residents of Langford toward people who are desperately poor and obviously in dire straits disturbing. Even worse, some are vilifying people in this situation as political opportunism to oppose the new council. I can confirm after 20 years of living here that homelessness is not a new issue.
Any one of us is a head injury or job loss away from similar circumstances. The people camping out in the park because they have no appropriate place to go could be your brother, your daughter, your uncle or your friend. How have we come to a place in our society where running people out of town who are in desperate need is the response people are calling for?
The homelessness crisis, and the overlapping mental health and addictions crisis, have worsened as a symptom of our current economic conditions and policies – across the country, not just in Langford. These dual crises are extremely complex and cannot be solved by law enforcement or pinned on just one level of government.
I agree the situation at Danbrook Park cannot continue, and should not be allowed to grow. Langford urgently needs to collaborate with Island Health, BC Housing, the provincial government, RCMP, non-profit housing providers and social service providers to come up with a humane solution. And the federal government needs to start investing in public housing again – their withdrawal from this area 30 years ago is a significant factor in the housing crisis.
The evidence is clear that more private, for-profit supply is not going to get us out of this mess.
Sarah Plank
Langford
