Friday, Oct. 17, 2008 @ 8:21 pm
More on camping
Well, the mayor has announced that the homeless will be allowed to set up camp only between the hours of 9pm and 7am. He also described the city's priority to protect sensitive ecosystems and child play areas.
Tourism is Victoria's main economy, and with the recent collapse of several condo projects, the city can't afford to lose tourists to a tent city eyesore. Maybe this court ruling is just the push that the city needs to get around to seriously addressing the homeless issue.
Homeless people make their way to Victoria because it is mild. It is much more sunny than Vancouver, and it is paradise in the winter, compared to the rest of Canada. A lot of the homeless are Native. Quite a few of them are young 'hippy' types, the travelers who are bucking The System.
Last weekend, I watched a man rummage in our dumpster. The bin is supposed to be locked, but someone (I can guess who) left it unlocked. The man's shopping cart was on the sidewalk. He pulled an envelope out of the dumpster, opened it, pulled out the paper inside, and read it. I watched him and called Daniel over. Daniel saw the man open another envelope. He quickly opened the window and asked the man what he was doing. "Lookin' for bottles." Daniel replied, "There aren't bottles in envelopes. Move on, please," The man grumbled and leisurely shuffled off.
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