Quote:
Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates
Your point of view seems to assume a large number of the cities homeless moved here when Calgary boomed and then couldn't get a home.
Where have you heard that this is the case, as opposed to people who were already here pre-boom and have now found themselves homeless? (or already were)
I would guess newcomers to Calgary actually represent a very small proportion of the cities homeless.
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Doing a quick google search of the rates of homelessness in Calgary I was able to come across an article from 2004 which showed that the rates of homeless families increased by 148% from 2002, and the overall rates of homelessness increased by 49% in the same timeframe. The problem is getting much worse as Calgary becomes a bigger city, as I guess one would expect. Just look at the Brick building on 16th Avenue N, in years past there has been enough drop in beds for the night but as it stands right now all the beds are full every night.
With regards to addicts, I do feel bad that they are in the situation that they are in, and I do know a large number of natives (brought up because generally they are the most at risk in our society) who have informed me as to the day to day lives of the reserves in Canada and why some of the problems exist. At a certain point though there is a choice made by everyone as to which path they want to travel, with some that choice may be harder (people who have been victims of abuse for example), but there is still a cognative choice. Treatment for mental illness on the other hand is something that I can fully support, as it is something completely out of their control. I guess it is hard to make broad sweeping generalizations when dealing with individual situations though, as I am sure that there are many people who my views would accuratly encompass while at the same time there are many whose would not, that is the problem with politics in my view, it is trying to put the round peg into a square hole and if it doesn't go, just hitting it with a hammer (in the form of a wad of cash) in the hopes that something will change.