Vancouver's Homeless

Well, on with the show. For all you British Columbian homeless, it turns out there are far more of you than previously thought. What are we supposed to make of statistics such as: "the number of homeless people in British Columbia may be triple the estimate Housing Minister Rich Coleman provided to The Tyee last week, according to a new report by health professors at UBC, SFU and the University of Calgary." Off by a few thousand, I can accept. But off by two-thirds, I smell a rat. Either we are dealing with mass incompetence (possible,) or someone isn't telling us the truth. I think an investigation of the Housing Ministry office is in order.
The 149 page report was a product of research by SFU and UBC professors, "provincial health authorities, the Employment and Income Assistance Ministry, and Coleman's own Forests and Range Ministry." But why are we getting such off-kilter numbers from the B.C. Housing Ministry? Could it have something to do that we are only two years away from an Olympic Games that is going to flood the province's corporate coffers with dough? This Report was commissioned by "the health ministry's mental health and addictions branch." Why is one Provincial Department giving us one set of numbers, and another Department another set? The even more shocking part is that the report's estimate of between 8,000 and 15,500 people that the "report calls absolutely homeless," are just those with "severe addictions and mental illness.""Tyee.ca" The real number of homeless could be far higher. That is a sickeningly sad number of people that need society's help.
As a solution, the B.C. Health Department is planning to re-open a former Mental Hospital that Health Minister Jim Abbott says he plans to open a "new kind of secure mental-health treatment facility ...(it) will provide a period of stabilization, which can run from days to weeks...For some, it will be a permanent thing." Abbott also says " such a facility would fill an existing gap for the mentally ill, many of whom are also drug-addicted." This Article from the Times-Colonist reports that a report from the Vancouver police released today suggests that "officers spend from a third to half their time dealing with mentally ill people." So this is what it takes to get help for the mentally ill? Abbott even refers to them as a "burden". How disrespectful is that? Calling people with a disease "a burden." So the homeless mentally ill get treated like sub-par human beings, "a burden," until they start inconveniencing the police. God forbid they take up valuable Police time when the cops could be busting Grow Ops or busting teens drinking outdoors. This action does not seem to me to be an act of humanitarianism, but placing a Band-Aid over a wound that already needs surgical care. There is no question that there are some mentally ill that are so far gone they need 24/7 supervision lest they hurt themselves or others. A better use of taxpayer's money, in my opinion, is putting more money put into Childhood Mental Care, so people with mental illness or a predisposition to addiction can receive help early.
Also, are we going to get much success in helping people with addictions get clean, if we stick them in hospitals with the severely mentally ill? Those with addictions need rehab and 12-step programs, not the same type of treatment and help that the mentally ill need.
A more progressive approach is that taken by the Vancouver Island Health Authority with its Assertive Community Treatment Team "made up of police officers, mental-health and addictions workers and medical professionals, will help homeless people suffering from mental illness and addiction get the housing, addiction services, health care and income support they need.""Victoria Times-Colonist" I think this form of treatment will provide more long-term solutions that treat people with compassion and dignity. So there is hope, Vancouver. Mobilize to protest the Olympics. And tell a friend about "Homeless Nation."