The Editor,
My observation over the last couple of months of the tent city being constructed on 105A and City Parkway - a mere couple of blocks from our new city hall - saddens me terribly.
It started with one tent and has now grown to a dozen. These poor individuals, once the general public starts to complain, will be bulldozed just like Oppenheimer Park in Vancouver.
Why, I ask, aren't our social services assisting these less fortunate people with what they require to exist with some dignity?
Now that the cold is setting in, we may have deaths on our consciences. Yes, there may be addiction problems, which everyone would like to believe are lifestyle choices. It may have been a choice the first time but now it is an illness with a very long, dark tunnel to get through to recover. We, as a society, need to help them, not judge them.
I say shame on our city for turning a blind eye. We have the resources. Just look at the money being spent to build new government buildings and look at the taxes being brought in from these mini-apartments being constructed daily under the guise of being singlefamily homes.
I know the city is aware of this tent city as I saw a bylaw officer's car parked on the street beside them a week ago.
How can a city, a province, a country allow these human beings to suffer? If a story was printed about a starving animal, we would be up in arms. It seems we can find millions to send to help other countries but don't you think we should look after our own first and foremost?
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity, in this democracy, to express my personal views.
Leslie Eller,
Surrey