I find myself walking quite a bit lately for peace of mind and exercise, and I also find myself noticing things that are sometimes beautiful like the Holy Cross at St Basils, to things that are really hard to swallow.
The other day I walked 60 minutes in the downtown core and upon coming up North on Gore I decided I had to write a piece about the poverty, sadness, hopelessness, that I witness when in that area.
A few years ago, I thought that the city and police services were on the right track with the Neighborhood Resource Center. It was a place for local residents to go for guidance, safety, and resources that they may not be aware of .
Since then, the center has been yanked from the neighborhood and upon speaking with the former landlord of the building it was in his opinion due to the Police Services just wanting to get out of doing it and passing it on to the Social Services Agencies in town. He had heard rumblings that they wanted out as “it wasn’t really helping anyway” he told me.
Apparently the Chief of Police had gone to the building after it had been closed due to the pandemic for about three months and figured it wasn’t fit for hosting people. The landlord told me that with no airflow for three months, it would obviously have been stale and have a bit of an odor as the basement had a very minor issue with a bit of water leakage at the north wall. he said.
In regards to the water in the basement (where no services etc were held) he said that the building is very old and those things happen from time to time.
He also said he was up to safety code and regulations with the Fire Service etc.
The Bottom Line is They Left
I feel they should have used their large budget because there is surplus money they can find I am sure. If not they should have approached the city even though it wasn’t their property; we are talking about the lives and well being of our fellow humans. In relation to budget money; they sure found $thousands of dollars to pay officers overtime pay and bring out the Command Centre vehicle on numerous weekends when a couple of dozen peaceful protesters were at Bellevue Park this summer. I may go through the FOI in the future and see just how much tax payer dollars was wasted for this, but that is not on the top of my list at this moment. 
Now, moving on; crime (generally) doesn’t happen on 2nd line near the Police Services building, the P path or Alworth Place.
Yes, crime can happen anywhere, but it is just common sense that it happens on a more frequent basis in depressed areas, such as downtown, Jamestown etc.
This is no slight to the residents in that area as people are the same everywhere, it is just a fact that when addiction and poverty meet, the result is going to be crime.
Now, the current Mayor and Council have done some things over the last couple of years that I agree with and I
have written in a good manor accordingly. I think I am pretty fair that way; you don’t have to like someone personally to maturely recognize something good they have done.
Having said that, I really think that the above overlooked the systemic problem in our city of poverty, addiction, and depression, by bulldozing their way to the new downtown plaza at a cost of about $8 000 000. They bulldozed in my opinion because from what I heard and read; the overall consensus from city residents was that it was not something they thought $8 million should be spent on especially during a pandemic with so many businesses either closing or suffering to stay open.
Of course revitalizing and injecting new projects into the downtown is a good idea, but so is directing money more responsibly and utilizing existing infrastructure more efficiently and to its’ capacity such as the Bondar Pavilion.
That is what it was erected for but seldom properly taken advantage of. Why not hold Concerts there? Why not have the Farmers Market there? Why not hold Flea Markets there?
Market it more aggressively for wedding receptions, birthday parties etc; yes it can be done; my sister held her reception there is and is was a fantastic event.
That $8 million dollars could go a very long way in regards to hiring and not himming and hawwing on it during council meetings. For years the residents have complained about the landlords letting their units rot and the garbage and junk in the yards doing the same. Instead of targeting small businesses for ridiculous infractions regarding patios and bylaw requirements, hire as many by law officers to constantly stay on these building owners until they comply.
But no; it is a constant battle. Where are the priorities of our local leadership? It doesn’t seem to be with the people on certain issues.
A chunk of that money should have gone to increase the Police Services budget if needed to make sure the downtown core and depressed areas of town have constant patrols.
It has been suggested that if the Police Services Building does get relocated, that a good fit would be downtown !!
They are already admitting that there presence in the said area would be beneficial; so why skip bail and leave the Gore street area where many people found hope. In my opinion the decision was based on bureaucracy and not the best interest of the people.
Now back to Gore; there are a lot of people suffering and actually living right on the street. There is sort of laneway between a couple of buildings and I have seen people sleeping there this summer. This is sad and in a country with all the wealth we have, this just shouldn’t be.
Walking down Queen on any day you see the hopeless faces, pain, addiction, poverty, and despair.
We might hand them some change when we have it and we go on our way.
It’s tragic that our elected leaders feel a shiny new plaza is in the best interests of the community.
I don’t have all the answers, but just my opinion.
Anyway, as I updated to publish this article, there have been a string of suspicious fires in a matter of days and three of them have hit the downtown core.
If these fires turn out to be arson; just maybe having had a constant police patrol downtown overnight may have discouraged these thugs and mentally sick people from starting these fires if indeed they broke into the establishment to do so.
Anyway, those are just some of my thoughts and thanks for reading .
Ernest Skinner
Sad state of affairs on Gore and beyond, the city always had crime and every city does, but it is worse now with people in despair and drug, alcohol abuse. We need more services that help not more lip service etc. Money needs to spent were it is needed, sometimes frills only look good until someone looks underneath.
I have been surfing online greater than three hours these days, but I by no means found any attention-grabbing article like yours.
It’s beautiful value enough for me. In my view, if all web owners and bloggers made just right content material
as you probably did, the net might be much more
helpful than ever before.
At worst, the Cialis dose might need to be increased generic 5 mg cialis
Online drugstores tend to sell products at affordable prices and while it may seem that offline drugstores sell at higher prices, the information presented in offline drugstores are more accurate buy cialis online forum
priligy ebay Inform patients not to take CIALIS with other PDE5 inhibitors, including ADCIRCA
1 Nanometer process Cruze muttered with a pale face, Devil, those Chinese people are definitely the devil sent by how to make yourself last longer in bed male God to torture us You know, this is their first version priligy sg Food and Drug Administration FDA in 2013, you do still need a prescription to buy Generic Cialis Tadalafil to treat ED 2019
best site to buy cialis online If you have long QT syndrome, a heart condition that can cause an irregular heartbeat and or heart palpitations, you should not use Levitra
On three cohorts of patients aged 65 years, overall 52 56 of attempts were performed within 4h post-dosing with on-demand regimen and 68 71 of attempts beyond 4h post-dosing with the 3 times week interval cialis vs viagra
generic 5mg cialis best price They re all affordable, quality lubes, made by companies I trust
online cialis Both Uprima and phentolamine have very low or no efficacies and therefore for present purposes will not be addressed
clomid ovulation pills for sale alberta Send questions via mucus and herbal products are here if they may develop over-stimulation syndrome.
If the test is positive, then we know that it took effect. letrozole vs clomid Intervention Model Parallel Assignment.
tamoxifen side effects in the elderly
nolvadex for pct
An RR could not be calculated for eight comparisons because there were no mortality events in either intervention group. doxycycline allergic reaction However, gentamicin exhibits neither of these properties against gram- positive infections.
Serious Use Alternative 1 indinavir will increase the level or effect of mobocertinib by affecting hepatic intestinal enzyme CYP3A4 metabolism. cheap doxycycline online uk The rash remained in remission for an additional 24 months with hydroxychloroquine alone, at which time hydroxychloroquine was stopped; however, the rash flared 2 months later and hydroxychloroquine was restarted at 200 mg twice daily, resulting in clearance within 3 months.
free casino games no download igt video
slots free play slots capital free super slots no download
paper writing services reviews best paper writing service english paper
help website that will write a paper for you
pay for someone to write your paper paper writers for college buy custom paper pay someone to write your paper
how to find someone to write my paper pay for someone
to write your paper paper writers online pay someone to write a paper for me
help with paper writing college paper writers write my english paper for me i need someone to write my paper
someone to write my paper for me how to find someone
to write my paper ghost writer for college papers https://writepapersformoney.com
pay someone to write your paper buy school papers online buy
papers online cheap custom paper writing service
Breast cancer was diagnosed by mammography more frequently in HRT users than in nonusers can lasix lower blood pressure
paper writing website help with filing divorce papers paper writing
services reviews someone write my paper
paper writing website help with filing divorce papers paper writing services reviews https://term-paper-help.org/
website that writes papers for you papers help buy paper online writing paper services
website that writes papers for you papers help buy paper online https://uktermpaperwriters.com/
custom written college papers custom papers for
college pay to write papers where to buy papers
website that will write a paper for you help writing a college paper i will pay you to write my paper need help writing a paper
where can i buy resume paper write my apa paper
website that writes papers for you best online paper writing service
where can i buy resume paper write my apa paper website that writes papers for you https://cheapcustompaper.org/
Monitor Closely 1 dexamethasone will decrease the level or effect of estrogens esterified by affecting hepatic intestinal enzyme CYP3A4 metabolism cialis generic buy In addition, in response to stimuli, such as TNF ?±, the IKK complex is activated, resulting in phosphorylation of IKB and its degradation by the proteasome, and allowing the translocation of NF ??B into the nucleus
best price cialis 20mg cialis keppra precio chile Cramer has requested a public defender, but Krakowka said he did not know whether one had been appointed
custom thesis papers buy a philosophy paper buy cheap papers online top100custompapernapkins.com
write my statistics paper what should i write
my paper about custom paper services how to find someone to write my paper
who can write my paper what is the best paper writing service custom thesis papers what should i write my paper on
who can write my paper what is the best paper writing service custom thesis papers https://writingpaperservice.net/
nolvadex for pct This medication may affect a man s reproductive system, resulting in sperm production becoming irregular or stopping permanently
If you re just on endocrine treatment, an anti estrogen like tamoxifen Nolvadex or Soltamox, like one of the aromatase inhibitors, but you re otherwise all done with your surgery buy priligy Radiation therapy is therefore a major risk factor for bone damage and fractures in cancer patients, which serves as a major source of functional impairment, pain, and mortality
doxycycline monohydrate for std Join Date Jun 2015 Posts 6, 887 Supplement Reviews Read All Reviews Source Reviews Read All Reviews
National guidelines recommend considering tamoxifen for women with estrogen receptor positive ER DCIS or who undergo excision alone dose clomid
coursework presentation coursework linkedin coursework notebook courseworkinfotest.com
coursework help university coursework title do my coursework for me do my coursework online
coursework help university coursework title do my coursework for me https://teachingcoursework.com/
lasix dosage for edema In this experiment, duplicate samples were collected
coursework writer uk database coursework custom coursework writing coursework meaning in english
coursework at college coursework vs thesis masters coursework computer science coursework guidelines 9396
coursework guidelines 9396 coursework program coursework project custom coursework writing
narrative coursework examples coursework and research coursework thesis coursework master degree