City Hall fumbles on Granville Street shelter re-opening

As Richard Nixon liked to say, let me make one thing perfectly clear:

Homeless people need to be able to come in from the cold and the city must provide them with shelter.

Full stop.

We could argue for days about how people really don’t need to be homeless in this day and age, how they should be more responsible for themselves, how we should do nothing to encourage drug or alcohol abuse, and how they would straighten out fast if we just cut off all the welfare and other social assistance.

At the end of the discussion – no matter how long-winded – there would still be homeless people. Some people can’t find their way home and that’s a fact. Maybe they can be fixed, but in the meantime, being homeless should never be a capital offence. Death by freezing is a preventable tragedy.

OK, you decide to help the homeless; then you have to decide how to do it. And one way not to do it is to reopen the shelter at 1435 Granville under the Granville Street Bridge. Especially without warning or consulting the residents of the area until after the fact, even though the last time you tried it, it ended badly. The shelter attracted some bad actors who freaked out the residents with open sex and drug use, violent behaviour and language, and various criminal acts. There went the neighbourhood.

This time, we have learned our lesson, says the mayor (aka Gregor the Good). Well, if that’s so, there’s scant evidence. Someone from the city left a voicemail for the residents, informing them the shelter would open Wednesday and oh, there will be an open house on Jan. 20 to talk about it.

Obviously, advance consultation with the residents would be annoying and time-consuming, so let’s just get the damned place open before anyone can protest.

Consultation? We don’t need no stinking consultation!

The city had all those warm summer months to prepare for winter 2010, but decided to wait until the last minute to spring its little surprise on the residents, without telling anyone. Which is what happened last time, so why should the residents believe the city has learned its lesson?

In case City Hall hasn’t figured it out, it should be possible to help the homeless while respecting the lives and values of those with homes. In fact, let’s make one more thing perfectly clear: It’s the only way to go.