Can’t say we’re seeing the most compassionate side of Richmond right now.
The proposal to build a temporary, 40-unit complex to house the homeless, or people who are at risk of being homeless, is hardly being greeted by the Welcome Wagon.
In fact, around 600 people turned up at an information session about the project. Some, I’m sure, genuinely wanted to learn about the proposal. But the vast majority were there to make their opposition known.
When our reporter contacted one of the protest organizers online for a picture Sunday afternoon, we were astonished to see a couple hundred people show up. Meanwhile, the mayor and councillors have been flooded with letters and petitions. (Actually, it’s one letter printed thousands of times and signed by, we’re told, about 300 people.)
In it, residents say they fear for their safety, their property values, their luxury cars and their dogs. (The proposed site is an open space which is currently being used as a dog park.)
Just to be sure councillors get the message, at the top right corner of the page they’ve stamped a logo “2018 Richmond Election.” In other words, any civic politician who doesn’t heed the pressure will feel a chill at the polls at election time this October.
So what do we make of all this?
Frankly, I find it a bit nauseating. The fact people can be so self-involved and void of compassion is truly disturbing. Fussing about one’s luxury car and having to find another place to walk your dog, at the expense of providing vulnerable people with a roof over their heads is well … where to begin?
That said, I’m trying to see it from their perspective. I also want to live in a safe neighbourhood, but here’s a crazy thought: maybe the poor do, too. Living on the street is hardly that. Besides, if you don’t want to live next to criminals, how about rallying against tax evasion and money laundering. That’s where the big money is in Richmond.
But what we really need to get our minds around is the fact we are all much safer when everyone is adequately housed.
It’s this concept advocates of the housing project are trying to make known, but the sticking point is that little logo.
I’m confident our mayor and council would like to see homeless people housed, but they know the power of a well-organized group that can get its people out on election day.
It’s going to be interesting to see where each of them comes down. They’ve all talked about the need to address homelessness and affordable housing, but can they walk the talk or will they give us the old, “The homeless should be housed, just not here.”
Regardless how the debate plays out, what will not help is turning this into an issue of culture and race — as has already been done by Coun. Harold Steves when he tweeted something about this being an example of a “culture clash.”
There are residents from all backgrounds on all sides here. To focus on ethnicity just fuels more of the us-and-them thinking that has created this backlash in the first place.
