Dear Editor,
Re: "Raucous Richmond meeting ends in vote to explore safe consumption site"
I believe that what took place at City Hall on Monday and Tuesday was really an attack against Canadian values.
The sheer rudeness and lack of respect for due process was, in itself, not how we were brought up to behave. And then the hateful comments and shouts “let them die, then there’s no problem, they should all be in mental institutions or prison, they are useless zombies.”
There are laws in Canada against hate speech and although there was much evidence of it, they were not prosecuted or even truly called out for it.
It was clear to anyone following this whole process that misinformation was being spread in that particular community.
This stirred up fear and anger and I can empathize with those who truly believed what was being spread — but this does not justify the way they behaved.
I am saddened that other levels of government did not speak out against the hate speech but instead appear to be pandering to this “portion of our society.” Political gain over people.
But this is a "portion of our society" — it’s not all of us.
I am hoping that the rest of our community will start to speak out.
Richmond is losing its identity. We need to start becoming more involved in activities that can protect it.
We can’t have our values replaced by those on display this week.
People can recover from addiction, they can become upstanding members of society, they are not disposable, they are not sub-human before they succeed in recovery, and it’s been said so many times that with today’s toxic supply they might not live long enough to recover.
For those who might not be familiar with what actually was being proposed (not the blatant misinformation), please investigate this. It was a path to potential recovery for human beings who are suffering and struggling today.
I am urging the larger community who do respect human life, who don’t want to give up on Richmond, to stand up and show that we are better than this.
Donna Colpitts
Richmond
