Because they care more about what their skewed "research" says rather than the actual reality on the ground. They're privileged and don't care to actually educate themselves.
Liberal dogma is nearly on par with that of religious fanatics. They start with the 'acceptable' conclusion first, and then work backwards to prove it.
The basic, common sense principle of making the risk not worth the reward through zero tolerance enforcement -- for the addict and the dealer -- is not progressive enough to be an acceptable conclusion. So they attempt to ignore reality in favor of lackadaisical academic 'solutions' where 2+2=5 and the alphabet begins with Z.
Works great when you fight it with actual enforcement and not academic 'root cause' bullshit legislation. Significantly less dope zombies littering the streets in blue cities than there are in any red or orange shitholes with open-air drug markets.
>Significantly less dope zombies littering the streets in blue cities than there are in any red or orange shitholes with open-air drug markets.
I live in a super blue area, and there's still drug zombies. They are out in the woods or under bridges
The homeless problem is getting bad everywhere
The lack of self awareness is astonishing, talk about ignoring reality. Ever notice its not just canada suffering? Im not sure if you've noticed the inflation the last 2 years in not just canada but much of the western world, only difference is europe has stronger wages and labour protections, even in conservative countries. In North America the housing market supplying new houses hasn't recovered from pre 08 rates and covid adding a additional stoppage to supply definitely didn't help. What supply is made is scooped up by corporations (upwards of 60% in some cities) and rented out for absurd fees, many landlords have willingly left their units empty and writing off the cost to operate on their taxes. Pinning it all on drugs in a very binary black and white is being willfully ignorant to how overarching and all consuming many of these issues run.
Canada has receded significantly worse than nearly every other Western country in every metric since your party of blockheads got in power -- largely as the result of insane tax hikes inflating the cost of goods, and the mass importation of millions of people, driving up housing scarcity.
When you're in a red city, with a red federal government, and you see tent favelas and junkies on every street corner -- that can only be the result of your own policy. If Liberal policies consistently produce this result every time they hold the legislative reigns, and you are unable to make the connection between ill-conceived policy and reality, you are effectively delusional.
Can you show me the 2+2=4 here?
Drugs were only decriminalized for 8 months out of the past 116 years since we made opium illegal.
In the 90’s heroine was so illegal drug users used to hide their needles and use the same one for weeks at a time. Sharing with those who didn’t have access to one along with any other bloodborn illnesses.
We used to throw them in jail then, we still throw them in jail. And you’re asking for a fix that’s just going to create more addiction issues.
This is a complex problem of multiple factors.
We are in an economic crisis, a housing crisis and a toxic drug crisis.
The people you are seeing out on the street are strung out because of the meth that was in their cocaine, the fentanyl, xylezine, benzodiazepines that are in their dope as well as the resulting brain damage from sometimes multiple overdoses.
Throwing them in jail will only serve to give you a false sense of security but having grown up in the 80’s and 90’s I can say it will only lead to more hidden drug use and the drugs are different now than they were back then.
Cracking down on drug dealers continues to stress a supply that then becomes worth more, if you cut it you can sell it to more people.
100% what’s driving this is the mentality that this is a war on drugs instead of a public health crisis.
We created an unregulated market that makes a lot of money. That won’t go away because you decide to police it harder. That will only serve to balloon police budgets and cost you just as much in tax dollars.
But we live in a democracy and it seems like that’s how people seem to want to vote going forward so let’s see how it plays out.
I’ll keep an itodasso in my back pocket for you.
Is this really liberal specific though? As far as I'm tracking, crackheads exist in Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, no? At least from what I have seen/heard/read. Aren't those conservative cities?
Genuinely curious, I've never visited a large Canadian city outside Toronto.
Omg … sad. Was on an area of Downtiwn Halifax ( Conservative province) last night and it was not to different than this. And the smell…I think it might be all cities- politics to the side.
Calgary, a very Conservative city, is bad. Edmonton, a heavily NDP city in a Conservative province, is also bad.
It's everywhere. Doesn't matter who is running the province.
Grande Prairie has issues as well. Quite possible in the top 10 most conservative cities in Canada.
No politicians, regardless of party, are coming up with logical solutions.
Both gondek and nenshi are left leaning policy wise.
Gondek got in because she misrepresented herself as a moderate, and the two more right-leaning candidates split the vote.
Yeah, it's *totally* the warmer winters, and nothing at all to do with the fact that the people in those cities (full disclosure, I live in Victoria) continue to elect a gaggle of fuckwits to govern them.
I grew up in Victoria and it has a lot less to do with municipal policy than you're insinuating. Most of the homeless in Vic and Van migrated from elsewhere.
Exactly. Drug users DGAF who is in charge. It's like there is a drug use epidemic that transcends politics. It's a serious public health issue. Crack was a big problem in the US in the eighties despite Ronald and Nancy saying that drugs are bad.
I love Victoria and I love Vancouver island. I have spent a lot of time there and it has a special place in my heart. It really saddens me to see this.
Because the school of thought regarding opiate addiction in basically every Canadian urban centre is that it’s somehow compassionate to let addicts live out their destructive (both self and to others) lifestyles in public. They have the same rights to our public spaces as for example a mother with 2 kids just trying to go about their day.
At this point, we treat smokers worse than we do opiate addicts.
Safe supply is as equally as ridiculous a solution. Clearly these people need 12 step rehab, but people hate it because of the spiritual element to those programmes, they’d rather let people die…
It's not complicated at all, the economy sucks, unemployment is high and people who used to do drugs out of your sight are now forced to do it front of you.
You don't need a think tank to figure this out.
People do drugs everyday but they used to have jobs and homes.
You want to fix addiction? Good luck.
You want to fix the economy? I'm willing to listen and help
Addiction is fixable, I’m an addict type myself. The problem is that society just doesn’t understand what is needed.
Currently we’re doing: safe supply of drugs (basically giving them free drugs to go kill themselves on), trying to fix the person’s problems but not their actual addiction itself, and blaming outside factors like economic circumstances.
At the end of the day, the addict puts the substance into their own body. The cause of addiction doesn’t actually matter, because once a person becomes an addict - the addiction itself becomes the primary issue. It’s like falling down into a ditch, maybe removing the rock that tripped you up from the top of the ditch will prevent other people becoming addicts… but it doesn’t help you now! No amount of money, free drugs, or fixing other psychological issues is going to stop them.
Essentially the core problem is a “spiritual” malady. The addict has to undergo a radical shift in their worldview to become less self-centred. Be that with 12 step programmes or other recovery programmes.
Other governments have done it successfully - Portugal, Alberta to name two.
In my view, addiction is a temporary state of insanity, an addict should be sectioned under mental health act to get them sober. Once they’re sober, they will feel so desperate they will be willing to work recovery programmes.
To just leave them there to “freely” die on the streets (causing a lot of crime before they do so), is one of the cruellest ways to neglect mentally sick people.
The problem is, liberal types don’t like the idea that: A. Their solutions don’t work; B. Being of an anti-religious bent, that spiritual means work; C. They may not understand addiction and have to “educate themselves”.
Well you’re right it is. One usually leads to the other, and that’s why rehab often fails - because the mental health issue isn’t dealt with. We need to bring back mental health facilities where people are admitted for longer term treatment. Obviously not the ones we used to have - but now we’ve over corrected and we have no proper facilities
This kind of Addiction is a type of mental illness born out of some other deep issue. It’s similar to a disease. Usually addicts have some prior mental health issue as well, be it PTSD, schizophrenia, BPD or brain injuries and developmental disabilities. Totally standard stuff here. Source: I work in this field.
What is happening to get this situation under control. I have been in Vancouver for 7 years and to me there is no improvement at all. Those SRO’s to me that is total nonsense. Providing the people with a dwelling units for less or no money it is bullshit which only gives them more comfort to use in better environment. So what is your point od view? Thanks
Here’s the thing. Drugs won’t go away. Even if you police them, even if you beat them, even if you torture them. They won’t go away.
The sro situation downtown is poorly managed and in some cases like the sahotas they became extremely abusive environments. You can thank the bc libs for some of that.
If these people aren’t in some kind of housing then they are on the street.
It’s like everyone has a shrodingers drug addict or something. Can’t be houses, can’t be in a tent.
No one wants to confront that this is something bigger and a sign of our failure as a society.
You want the capitalism without the downfall of those who can’t survive the game.
drug addiction is a mental health problem and has been classified as such since 1987 by the american medical association
i love how your confidently incorrect stance can be overturned with literally a 10 second google search lol
your opinion is irrelevant next to what the medical association sees with data.
if you disagree become a scientist, gather data and publish it to have that status overturned.
until then science doesnt care about your feelings
Pharmaceutical industry is one of the reasons why things are the way they are so I doubt that some research from 1987 is relevant but you might have different opinion and I am fine with that.
lol. just hand wave away decades of research made by professionals who came to the conclusion accepted in 1987. where is your data? where is your research? where is your training to come to this sweeping conclusion?
the willful ignorance and dunning kruger syndrome are palpable. i feel sorry for you
Dont worry about me. I am doing great my friend. Put all the effort into changing the situation on the streets instead of this conversation. Have a good life!!!
That’s Douglas St. It’s the Main Street here. About fifteen years ago, you might have some questionable teenagers out front of the McDonalds or Chapters (before it moved/switched to Shoppers) hanging out after school, but now it’s just a four to five block stretch of crackheads and mentally ill fighting each other, stealing from stores and navigating through the smell of human piss and shit on the sidewalks.
If you go into the Bay Centre, a significant portion of the mall has no tenants. People are not interested to come downtown and deal with this crap (figuratively and literally).
It’s been NDP/left here at every level (federal, provincial and municipal) for 20+ years. They have no one to blame but themselves and the people who consistently vote for the same archetype and think things will change. Seattle is just a more regressed version of Victoria and we will be at their level shortly.
Who wants to go downtown where you get hassled by junkies and can't find parkin because of the bike lanes? Not to mention how long it takes now because of the bike lights and no right turns on red. And have you even tried to go through the intersection near the bridge? Can't turn right, so you are forced to go over the bridge, and I've timed at least 10 minutes just to get through an entire round of lights.
The BC liberals were a right leaning party. Gordon Campbell, BC Liberals, closed all the mental health hospitals just like all conservative governments tend to do. You want to blame someone blame him
Ummm, no, anything but Conservative. The hospitals closed because of “mental health rights” and removal of the ability to force people into treatment, except for the most dire of cases.
This isn’t just liberal cities at all my friend. This is every city in Canada. Problem is there is no enforcement of open drug use. And no jail time anyone really. Laws in Canada are ducked .
Honestly I doubt this would do much. Will probably result in dealers using their vulnerable addicts as the scapegoat/mule, leading to random addicts getting executed and dealers being untouched.
Unless they make using drugs a capital offense too. Criminals gna break the law no matter what but if you take away their customers they lose monetary incentive
Kinda like East Hastings in Vancouver . Cartels from the south and Asia keep bringing in the drugs that are undermining our society . Hard core stuff being spiked into the drug users feed . Fentanyl and such . The marketing model is bad because it keeps killing off the users .It’s almost like. Never ending supply of new drug addicts being killed Trudeau has no clue on how to deal with this
If there was a supply of drugs that weren’t as strong and crazy making and people knew the dose they were actually taking. Could you imagine what things might look like?
But kids. (As if kids have never done drugs before)
Strict policing and new laws are the answer. If you are caught with fentanyl, minimum 3 years in a detox facility. If you are caught trafficking fentanyl, minimum 10 years hard labour. What is the secret recipe that countries with less crime employ?? Strict punishment for criminals.
And when they are released? Do we put all of the parole conditions on them that we continue to see that can sometimes make life so difficult they would rather just sit at home and collect welfare than navigate getting a job, introducing every new person they meet to their po, having to disclose the nature of that relationship to their po?
How punitive do we get with folks with a problem? Also… tax dollars. You now want to spend more money then we are spending with simple crisis management. Room, board, 24 hour care. For 3 years because they had drugs? That’s more expensive than repetitive hospital visits I’m sure.
But at least you won’t have to look out social failures in the face every day.
We aren't willing to raise taxes to lock up addicts (or cram them into seriously inhumane prisons) and small time dealers for 10 years. We also decided that allowing addicts to die was a bad idea, so the numbers aren't reduced as much as they were in the old days. We also took the cheap route in rehab and mental health, so there isn't enough support for people who have detoxed, so they drift back into addiction often and quickly.
Even places like Texas and Alabama can't stop addiction much using "tough" enforcement (though locking up addicts does hide the problem), and we are too cheap to do the alternatives well.
Visit Victoria for the first time this year. For such a small city, I was in aw of the deterioration of society every corner of the city. There was needles, crackpipes on the lawn of the Fairmont Hotel where I was staying. Very sad. Met with the mayor, very intelligent women, and she doesn't have the appetite to address this with the seriousness needed to improve the lives of those suffering from addiction nor those of her constituents
We had a great program where we offered free hotels and cell phones for drug addicts. Oddly it only attracted drug addicts from all over canada to come here and they kept burning down the hotels. Maybe we needed to get them penthouses next time. The good news is we have stabbings nearly every day now, 5 years ago you would be shocked to hear of one at all but now its just business as usual.
All major cities on the west coast are like this or have places like this. It's a chicken egg situation. Are west coast cities like this because of politics? Are their/our politics like this because of where they/we are? Etc. etc.
Ports linked to Asia where cheap bad drugs can get here easily. Most ports are fairly corrupt. Mild weather meaning you can live on the street all year. Originally fairly well off, and dense (density due to coast limiting growth direction): density and wealth tend to breed more left wing ideas because it's helpful to pool resources when you all live crammed together. Positive feedback loop where more liberal people move here etc. So more broad support for homeless/addicted. But like anything you have to keep an eye on things and not let it get out of control and ooops clearly easier said than done because every west coast city is messed now.
There’s so much evidence out there that proves this is a big problem not only in Victoria but also in the rest of Canada and the World. There is also a lot of evidence claiming that Canada is one of the best countries to live in (metrics vary) and that in all of Canada - BC is arguably the best place in Canada. Victoria has also been called the most ‘European city’ by many who visit. I think that people see everything that’s going on but would rather complain and blame rather than adopt a mentality that would benefit the community. Somewhat like how drivers blame cyclists that blame pedestrians that blame drivers. How can we solve a complex problem like homelessness when we can’t even resist driving closer to cyclists because we don’t like bike lanes.
That's one section of one street (Pandora), outside a homeless shelter. I'm not saying the homeless population in Victoria isn't growing, but this doesn't feel like an appropriate representation.
They've also opened up temporary housing for displaced families as well, so hopefully this won't last for too long. The current estimate for the global economic slowdown is around a decade, so if you haven't started penny pinching, now would be a good time to start.
Stop making this about politics, this is a global crisis that has to do more with low interest rates, that increased discretionary spending and corporate greed.
We're doing far better than most. Australia has had its median income drop to the level it was in 2013 and most certainly will be in a deep recession by the end of the year. You all know how Britain is faring. The US introduces quantitative easing (printing money), every time their debt goes up. We're doing fairly better than most.
This too shall pass !
Also, liberal cities? It definitely has nothing to do with the fact that it isn't minus 40 6 months a year so homeless population is worse compared to, say, winnipeg?
Please don't. Whenever they try to do that, they end up having the middle class even more. Rich can relocate their money and assets. Middle class doesn't have the channel or resources to do that.
By funds an assume you are referring to taxes. Taxes are paid by the tax payer and can take many forms such as income tax, sales tax, and land transfers taxes.
Its not the politicians fault. Maybe if people didn’t do drugs and have “special interests groups” push to make drug use socially acceptable, maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation.
In Victoria these people have an average of 30+ charges, it's just catch and release. None of them are taken off the streets. That IS on the politicians
When a government fails to protect its own citizens it should not remain in power.
Failure to protect drug importions.
Failure to prosecute internal manufacturers and dealers .
We are left to fend for ourselves, and if we do we get charged .
Historically narcotics alternate between stimulants and opioids in their use and we are in an opioid downturn. Lack of community and loneliness due to technology driving us apart is my theory.
This is such an ignorant post and the comments are equally ignorant.
Drug addiction and mental health issues are not a conservative vs liberal thing. Its a Canadian issue. People suffer from drug addiction in many Canadian cities and it has been going on for a few decades.
Its more apparent in cities because its more densely populated.
When I see posts like these, I feel like the poster is from some small backward hick town in Canada and is on their first visit to a big city in Canada.
California has 50% of the US entire homeless population. This is not because Californians are somehow more prone to drug abuse or mental illness. It’s because the local policies enable and attract the homeless, the addicts, and the mentally ill into the state.
Perhaps you should not be calling people ignorant small town hicks, just because you either cannot see the forest behind the trees, or unwilling to admit culpability of liberal policies in cultivating homelessness.
Liberal cities are goal oriented towards “equality, equity, and inclusion” which comes at the cost of actual work, as a result large companies will move out of those places and cities which cannot deal with their homeless will send them to the liberal cities because that’s where the safe injection sites are. You get people who lost jobs from companies pulling out creating homeless leading to other cities sending their homeless and it’s all over from there.
“Liberal cities”… LOL. In Canada that’s every city. Living with other cultures and having many neighbours and coworkers who aren’t just like you tends to make you more liberal. Hence, cities are.
It’s worked for a lot of politicians over the past century.
If it’s not drug addicts it’s poor, “insert race here”, immigrant etc…
The conservatives tend to eat that shit up.
Victoria BC, I assume? Very similar to many areas in Ontario right now. It's truly sad that their governments aren't doing more to improve the situations. What do they have in common though?
They're ... both conservatively run provinces?
reminds me of that video where they were asking what people make on the streets and one woman made $250'000 from managing homeless shelters, there's a bum economy there. My friends work in a shelter/safe injection site there, must be terrifying but they get good pay and good hours so they do it. Libs spend so much money massaging the issue, there's probably more than enough money being spent to fix most of these issues it just goes towards salaries and ineffective programs that demand more and more funding but make the issues worse and then get more funding.
Homelessness in Vancouver is actual insanity, this is an ancient [article](https://bc.ctvnews.ca/one-homeless-person-costs-171-000-a-year-1.365403) but even in 2009 one homeless would cost $170'000 to sustain yearly, that's probably around the average cost now. There are so many people working on taking care of the homeless and they incur so many more costs that I think at this point if we cut all of it and just pay these people how much they cost society the homeless would be the 1%
When misfits run your political units this is what you get. When your leadership is insecure, feels traumatized or oppressed or just constantly relies on feelings in their day to day decisions rather than information, wants equity over meritocracy, ego over humility, wants everyone to feel happy, and doesn’t know how to balance a budget or set meaningful milestones, this is what you get.
We are becoming what Portland and Seattle were before the pandemic.
Portland and Seattle have become much worse. We are going to become much worse
From watching them I have learned that a drugged out homeless person is called a "Goul" and if they have their pants around their waists it's because they used their belts to get high, and hit the high before they got the belt back on.
Yeah, that is an unfortunate hell and a true reality that we need to come to terms with and deal with, not just ignore and hope the government takes care of it. The goverment isn;t coming to help us. They are only interested in people with expencive watches and underware like them, because thats the only type of people they relate with.
Calgary is probably Canada's most conservative large city and we have the same thing. Probably the only thing preventing it from being as bad as coastal BC is the geography.
Ya, I noticed that in all conservative cities (whatever the fuck that is) has no homeless or drug addicts. What kind of idiot writes articles like this?
I think the real goal of so- called liberalism is to take anything that works, is beautiful and graceful and turn it into something that is ugly. Look at liberal art, architecture or even most liberal women. All ugly as sin. They cannot handle anything remotely beautiful and have to seek it out and destroy under guise of progress!
Partially because that's where the services are.
In Victoria homeless population is very thick around shelters and soup kitchens. However you walk a block away, and suddenly you only see families and tourists.
I would argue the later are worse than homeless.
Fuck the labels. Tell me how you would fix the problem bud. Actually fix the problem not just jail the ones today and keep jailing the new one. . Tell me how to solve this crisis or you are just another mouthpiece spewing bullshit.
All cities are like this regardless of politics. Conservatives don't help them through any programs and just push the problem into less visible areas so as to not offend you, and liberals have ineffective programs and let the drug use happen in the open
This is literally the demographic that liberals thrive on. Drugged out snowflakes that are too useless and fragile, isolated and high on weed, opioids and pseudo woke ideologies.
That's the result of having leftist idiots in power at all levels, federal, provincial, and municipal. Lisa Helps did a LOT of damage to Victoria, it's a nightmare to go downtown anymore
Liberals want to solve the “climate crisis”
and give money away to other countries and for reconciliation. This is the collateral damage across all Western democracies.
We all pay for their policies. Some just pay a whole lot more.
Victoria is nothing like Peterborough, Ontario!!! Peterborough is conservative city in conservative province. Peterborough has got to be one of the worst in Canada ffs!
Again! Total idiots trying to make this human issue a Party issue!
Listen you morons; NONE of our parties are anything other than traitors to the people of Canada.
Voting for any of these parties is just a vote to keep making this worse!
Vote for independent thinkers! Stop voting for Kang!
Post this in r/Canada..... Reference the US liberal cities too....
You'd think liberal/socialist people would finally understand.... But no, they'll scold you.
Btw liberal and Canadian liberal are two different things. My political views are liberal. I have always voted Canadian conservative.
The zombie apocalypse
Because they care more about what their skewed "research" says rather than the actual reality on the ground. They're privileged and don't care to actually educate themselves.
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
Exactly.
Liberal dogma is nearly on par with that of religious fanatics. They start with the 'acceptable' conclusion first, and then work backwards to prove it. The basic, common sense principle of making the risk not worth the reward through zero tolerance enforcement -- for the addict and the dealer -- is not progressive enough to be an acceptable conclusion. So they attempt to ignore reality in favor of lackadaisical academic 'solutions' where 2+2=5 and the alphabet begins with Z.
>They start with the 'acceptable' conclusion first, and then work backwards to prove it. That's how we got Gladue.
I'm pretty sure that last sentence describes 99% of liberal thought processes.
Don’t they know we are about to win the war on drugs?
Any day now right? It’s worked so well for the past 100 years
Works great when you fight it with actual enforcement and not academic 'root cause' bullshit legislation. Significantly less dope zombies littering the streets in blue cities than there are in any red or orange shitholes with open-air drug markets.
>Significantly less dope zombies littering the streets in blue cities than there are in any red or orange shitholes with open-air drug markets. I live in a super blue area, and there's still drug zombies. They are out in the woods or under bridges The homeless problem is getting bad everywhere
The lack of self awareness is astonishing, talk about ignoring reality. Ever notice its not just canada suffering? Im not sure if you've noticed the inflation the last 2 years in not just canada but much of the western world, only difference is europe has stronger wages and labour protections, even in conservative countries. In North America the housing market supplying new houses hasn't recovered from pre 08 rates and covid adding a additional stoppage to supply definitely didn't help. What supply is made is scooped up by corporations (upwards of 60% in some cities) and rented out for absurd fees, many landlords have willingly left their units empty and writing off the cost to operate on their taxes. Pinning it all on drugs in a very binary black and white is being willfully ignorant to how overarching and all consuming many of these issues run.
Canada has receded significantly worse than nearly every other Western country in every metric since your party of blockheads got in power -- largely as the result of insane tax hikes inflating the cost of goods, and the mass importation of millions of people, driving up housing scarcity. When you're in a red city, with a red federal government, and you see tent favelas and junkies on every street corner -- that can only be the result of your own policy. If Liberal policies consistently produce this result every time they hold the legislative reigns, and you are unable to make the connection between ill-conceived policy and reality, you are effectively delusional.
Can you show me the 2+2=4 here? Drugs were only decriminalized for 8 months out of the past 116 years since we made opium illegal. In the 90’s heroine was so illegal drug users used to hide their needles and use the same one for weeks at a time. Sharing with those who didn’t have access to one along with any other bloodborn illnesses. We used to throw them in jail then, we still throw them in jail. And you’re asking for a fix that’s just going to create more addiction issues. This is a complex problem of multiple factors. We are in an economic crisis, a housing crisis and a toxic drug crisis. The people you are seeing out on the street are strung out because of the meth that was in their cocaine, the fentanyl, xylezine, benzodiazepines that are in their dope as well as the resulting brain damage from sometimes multiple overdoses. Throwing them in jail will only serve to give you a false sense of security but having grown up in the 80’s and 90’s I can say it will only lead to more hidden drug use and the drugs are different now than they were back then. Cracking down on drug dealers continues to stress a supply that then becomes worth more, if you cut it you can sell it to more people. 100% what’s driving this is the mentality that this is a war on drugs instead of a public health crisis. We created an unregulated market that makes a lot of money. That won’t go away because you decide to police it harder. That will only serve to balloon police budgets and cost you just as much in tax dollars. But we live in a democracy and it seems like that’s how people seem to want to vote going forward so let’s see how it plays out. I’ll keep an itodasso in my back pocket for you.
Is this really liberal specific though? As far as I'm tracking, crackheads exist in Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, no? At least from what I have seen/heard/read. Aren't those conservative cities? Genuinely curious, I've never visited a large Canadian city outside Toronto.
Edmonton has a former liberal MP as mayor. Calgary a liberal mayor. No idea on Saskatoon or Winnipeg though.
Edmonton and Calgary are NDP strongholds.
Canada is Back! ~ Justin Trudeau
Sunny ways arriving any day now!
We are so back to the middle ages
MCGA (make Canada great again)
Omg … sad. Was on an area of Downtiwn Halifax ( Conservative province) last night and it was not to different than this. And the smell…I think it might be all cities- politics to the side.
Calgary, a very Conservative city, is bad. Edmonton, a heavily NDP city in a Conservative province, is also bad. It's everywhere. Doesn't matter who is running the province.
Calgary conservative? Gondek doesn’t strike me as one and the previous mayor Nenshi just became leader of the provincial NDP.
Grande Prairie has issues as well. Quite possible in the top 10 most conservative cities in Canada. No politicians, regardless of party, are coming up with logical solutions.
Tell me you know that there are no parties represented in municipal politics ?
Both gondek and nenshi are left leaning policy wise. Gondek got in because she misrepresented herself as a moderate, and the two more right-leaning candidates split the vote.
😂 Politicians don’t have political leanings without party affiliations? What dream world is this?
The world of Municipal politics.
Not as bad as Victoria. But still bad. NDP in a conservative Province
Victoria and Vancouver are always worse than the rest of the country because winters are a lot warmer.
Those city's also have a higher transient population
Yeah, it's *totally* the warmer winters, and nothing at all to do with the fact that the people in those cities (full disclosure, I live in Victoria) continue to elect a gaggle of fuckwits to govern them.
I grew up in Victoria and it has a lot less to do with municipal policy than you're insinuating. Most of the homeless in Vic and Van migrated from elsewhere.
I know people from central Canada who did the same. It's both the climate and a cultural pull to be a beach bum.
Imagine being homeless and having the option of not freezing to death half the year. Crazy.
warmer but soggy wet.
Curious - which major Canadian cities have right of centre mayors?
Calgary is bad? You are nuts.
Calgarys the Vancouver of Alberta, calm down
It’s across the continent. West coast is worse because it’s warmer
Exactly. Drug users DGAF who is in charge. It's like there is a drug use epidemic that transcends politics. It's a serious public health issue. Crack was a big problem in the US in the eighties despite Ronald and Nancy saying that drugs are bad.
I love Victoria and I love Vancouver island. I have spent a lot of time there and it has a special place in my heart. It really saddens me to see this.
Relax, it's not at all that bad. This is rage baiting for political gain as usual.
Because the school of thought regarding opiate addiction in basically every Canadian urban centre is that it’s somehow compassionate to let addicts live out their destructive (both self and to others) lifestyles in public. They have the same rights to our public spaces as for example a mother with 2 kids just trying to go about their day. At this point, we treat smokers worse than we do opiate addicts.
Safe supply is as equally as ridiculous a solution. Clearly these people need 12 step rehab, but people hate it because of the spiritual element to those programmes, they’d rather let people die…
Please go down to skid row and ask these people to go on the 12 step rehab. It's not as easy as you make it out to be.
It's not complicated at all, the economy sucks, unemployment is high and people who used to do drugs out of your sight are now forced to do it front of you. You don't need a think tank to figure this out. People do drugs everyday but they used to have jobs and homes. You want to fix addiction? Good luck. You want to fix the economy? I'm willing to listen and help
The most realistic person in this thread showed up.
Addiction is fixable, I’m an addict type myself. The problem is that society just doesn’t understand what is needed. Currently we’re doing: safe supply of drugs (basically giving them free drugs to go kill themselves on), trying to fix the person’s problems but not their actual addiction itself, and blaming outside factors like economic circumstances. At the end of the day, the addict puts the substance into their own body. The cause of addiction doesn’t actually matter, because once a person becomes an addict - the addiction itself becomes the primary issue. It’s like falling down into a ditch, maybe removing the rock that tripped you up from the top of the ditch will prevent other people becoming addicts… but it doesn’t help you now! No amount of money, free drugs, or fixing other psychological issues is going to stop them. Essentially the core problem is a “spiritual” malady. The addict has to undergo a radical shift in their worldview to become less self-centred. Be that with 12 step programmes or other recovery programmes. Other governments have done it successfully - Portugal, Alberta to name two. In my view, addiction is a temporary state of insanity, an addict should be sectioned under mental health act to get them sober. Once they’re sober, they will feel so desperate they will be willing to work recovery programmes. To just leave them there to “freely” die on the streets (causing a lot of crime before they do so), is one of the cruellest ways to neglect mentally sick people. The problem is, liberal types don’t like the idea that: A. Their solutions don’t work; B. Being of an anti-religious bent, that spiritual means work; C. They may not understand addiction and have to “educate themselves”.
They call it “mental health issues”
Just telling it like it is, really
It is.
To me it seems more like drug addiction. Prove me wrong
This is kind of a stupid comment to just try and make your point because why can’t it be both? A drug addiction AND mental health issues?
Well you’re right it is. One usually leads to the other, and that’s why rehab often fails - because the mental health issue isn’t dealt with. We need to bring back mental health facilities where people are admitted for longer term treatment. Obviously not the ones we used to have - but now we’ve over corrected and we have no proper facilities
Too busy sending billions over seas to third world countries to care about any Canadian
This kind of Addiction is a type of mental illness born out of some other deep issue. It’s similar to a disease. Usually addicts have some prior mental health issue as well, be it PTSD, schizophrenia, BPD or brain injuries and developmental disabilities. Totally standard stuff here. Source: I work in this field.
What is happening to get this situation under control. I have been in Vancouver for 7 years and to me there is no improvement at all. Those SRO’s to me that is total nonsense. Providing the people with a dwelling units for less or no money it is bullshit which only gives them more comfort to use in better environment. So what is your point od view? Thanks
Here’s the thing. Drugs won’t go away. Even if you police them, even if you beat them, even if you torture them. They won’t go away. The sro situation downtown is poorly managed and in some cases like the sahotas they became extremely abusive environments. You can thank the bc libs for some of that. If these people aren’t in some kind of housing then they are on the street. It’s like everyone has a shrodingers drug addict or something. Can’t be houses, can’t be in a tent. No one wants to confront that this is something bigger and a sign of our failure as a society. You want the capitalism without the downfall of those who can’t survive the game.
drug addiction is a mental health problem and has been classified as such since 1987 by the american medical association i love how your confidently incorrect stance can be overturned with literally a 10 second google search lol
My opinion on most of these human beings is that too much drugs caused them to have the mental health issues.
your opinion is irrelevant next to what the medical association sees with data. if you disagree become a scientist, gather data and publish it to have that status overturned. until then science doesnt care about your feelings
Pharmaceutical industry is one of the reasons why things are the way they are so I doubt that some research from 1987 is relevant but you might have different opinion and I am fine with that.
lol. just hand wave away decades of research made by professionals who came to the conclusion accepted in 1987. where is your data? where is your research? where is your training to come to this sweeping conclusion? the willful ignorance and dunning kruger syndrome are palpable. i feel sorry for you
Dont worry about me. I am doing great my friend. Put all the effort into changing the situation on the streets instead of this conversation. Have a good life!!!
That’s Douglas St. It’s the Main Street here. About fifteen years ago, you might have some questionable teenagers out front of the McDonalds or Chapters (before it moved/switched to Shoppers) hanging out after school, but now it’s just a four to five block stretch of crackheads and mentally ill fighting each other, stealing from stores and navigating through the smell of human piss and shit on the sidewalks. If you go into the Bay Centre, a significant portion of the mall has no tenants. People are not interested to come downtown and deal with this crap (figuratively and literally). It’s been NDP/left here at every level (federal, provincial and municipal) for 20+ years. They have no one to blame but themselves and the people who consistently vote for the same archetype and think things will change. Seattle is just a more regressed version of Victoria and we will be at their level shortly.
Who wants to go downtown where you get hassled by junkies and can't find parkin because of the bike lanes? Not to mention how long it takes now because of the bike lights and no right turns on red. And have you even tried to go through the intersection near the bridge? Can't turn right, so you are forced to go over the bridge, and I've timed at least 10 minutes just to get through an entire round of lights.
Dont forget the daily stabbings
The BC liberals were a right leaning party. Gordon Campbell, BC Liberals, closed all the mental health hospitals just like all conservative governments tend to do. You want to blame someone blame him
Ummm, no, anything but Conservative. The hospitals closed because of “mental health rights” and removal of the ability to force people into treatment, except for the most dire of cases.
It’s like this everywhere. Why we grifting?
Have you been to Calgary?…. It’s not a liberal issue. It’s not a conservative issue. It’s an everyone sucks shit issue. All sides are shit.
I figure liberal city is used since most cities are liberal in general. Makes it nice and easy to target liberals.
This isn’t just liberal cities at all my friend. This is every city in Canada. Problem is there is no enforcement of open drug use. And no jail time anyone really. Laws in Canada are ducked .
Every city in North America
Pretty much
Addiction epidemics don't recognize party politics. Until they make dealing/trafficking a capital offense, nothing will change.
Honestly I doubt this would do much. Will probably result in dealers using their vulnerable addicts as the scapegoat/mule, leading to random addicts getting executed and dealers being untouched.
wat
This man Singapore's. Seriously though, we'd see more improvement by express route executing serious traffickers than pretty much anything
Catch and release is a huge problem, people know if they break the law they will be right back out after a free meal on a promise to appear.
Unless they make using drugs a capital offense too. Criminals gna break the law no matter what but if you take away their customers they lose monetary incentive
Murdering drug users? Jesus christ.
New to the sub?
‘Conservative cities’ are what? Name one.
Kinda like East Hastings in Vancouver . Cartels from the south and Asia keep bringing in the drugs that are undermining our society . Hard core stuff being spiked into the drug users feed . Fentanyl and such . The marketing model is bad because it keeps killing off the users .It’s almost like. Never ending supply of new drug addicts being killed Trudeau has no clue on how to deal with this
If there was a supply of drugs that weren’t as strong and crazy making and people knew the dose they were actually taking. Could you imagine what things might look like? But kids. (As if kids have never done drugs before)
Even the conservative cities are like this. The bigger cities just bus as many druggies as they can to other cities
Liberal cities? All cities look like this now.
Calgary and Saskatoon aren't anywhere near as bad as Vancouver. But I think it's more the weather and not the provincial governments
Strict policing and new laws are the answer. If you are caught with fentanyl, minimum 3 years in a detox facility. If you are caught trafficking fentanyl, minimum 10 years hard labour. What is the secret recipe that countries with less crime employ?? Strict punishment for criminals.
And when they are released? Do we put all of the parole conditions on them that we continue to see that can sometimes make life so difficult they would rather just sit at home and collect welfare than navigate getting a job, introducing every new person they meet to their po, having to disclose the nature of that relationship to their po? How punitive do we get with folks with a problem? Also… tax dollars. You now want to spend more money then we are spending with simple crisis management. Room, board, 24 hour care. For 3 years because they had drugs? That’s more expensive than repetitive hospital visits I’m sure. But at least you won’t have to look out social failures in the face every day.
A lot of it is because liberal cities are less draconian about moving people out of public spaces unless they are actually hurting someone.
We aren't willing to raise taxes to lock up addicts (or cram them into seriously inhumane prisons) and small time dealers for 10 years. We also decided that allowing addicts to die was a bad idea, so the numbers aren't reduced as much as they were in the old days. We also took the cheap route in rehab and mental health, so there isn't enough support for people who have detoxed, so they drift back into addiction often and quickly. Even places like Texas and Alabama can't stop addiction much using "tough" enforcement (though locking up addicts does hide the problem), and we are too cheap to do the alternatives well.
Small time dealers are usually one and the same. Keep that in mind. The problem is bigger than just disappearing people because we are uncomfortable.
Visit Victoria for the first time this year. For such a small city, I was in aw of the deterioration of society every corner of the city. There was needles, crackpipes on the lawn of the Fairmont Hotel where I was staying. Very sad. Met with the mayor, very intelligent women, and she doesn't have the appetite to address this with the seriousness needed to improve the lives of those suffering from addiction nor those of her constituents
We had a great program where we offered free hotels and cell phones for drug addicts. Oddly it only attracted drug addicts from all over canada to come here and they kept burning down the hotels. Maybe we needed to get them penthouses next time. The good news is we have stabbings nearly every day now, 5 years ago you would be shocked to hear of one at all but now its just business as usual.
Every city has their bad sections. I’m not sure this represents Victoria accurately. The city is woke though, which is unfortunate.
All major cities on the west coast are like this or have places like this. It's a chicken egg situation. Are west coast cities like this because of politics? Are their/our politics like this because of where they/we are? Etc. etc. Ports linked to Asia where cheap bad drugs can get here easily. Most ports are fairly corrupt. Mild weather meaning you can live on the street all year. Originally fairly well off, and dense (density due to coast limiting growth direction): density and wealth tend to breed more left wing ideas because it's helpful to pool resources when you all live crammed together. Positive feedback loop where more liberal people move here etc. So more broad support for homeless/addicted. But like anything you have to keep an eye on things and not let it get out of control and ooops clearly easier said than done because every west coast city is messed now.
There’s so much evidence out there that proves this is a big problem not only in Victoria but also in the rest of Canada and the World. There is also a lot of evidence claiming that Canada is one of the best countries to live in (metrics vary) and that in all of Canada - BC is arguably the best place in Canada. Victoria has also been called the most ‘European city’ by many who visit. I think that people see everything that’s going on but would rather complain and blame rather than adopt a mentality that would benefit the community. Somewhat like how drivers blame cyclists that blame pedestrians that blame drivers. How can we solve a complex problem like homelessness when we can’t even resist driving closer to cyclists because we don’t like bike lanes.
What’s a “liberal” city? LOL
Define a Liberal city. If it’s based on the Mayor, please explain why this occurred during conservative John Tory.
That's one section of one street (Pandora), outside a homeless shelter. I'm not saying the homeless population in Victoria isn't growing, but this doesn't feel like an appropriate representation. They've also opened up temporary housing for displaced families as well, so hopefully this won't last for too long. The current estimate for the global economic slowdown is around a decade, so if you haven't started penny pinching, now would be a good time to start. Stop making this about politics, this is a global crisis that has to do more with low interest rates, that increased discretionary spending and corporate greed. We're doing far better than most. Australia has had its median income drop to the level it was in 2013 and most certainly will be in a deep recession by the end of the year. You all know how Britain is faring. The US introduces quantitative easing (printing money), every time their debt goes up. We're doing fairly better than most. This too shall pass !
Also, liberal cities? It definitely has nothing to do with the fact that it isn't minus 40 6 months a year so homeless population is worse compared to, say, winnipeg?
Exactly!
“Liberal city?” Somebody’s been watching too much American news.
This is a funding issue. Tax the rich so the world doesn't go to shit. It's going to shit because we haven't.
Please don't. Whenever they try to do that, they end up having the middle class even more. Rich can relocate their money and assets. Middle class doesn't have the channel or resources to do that.
All liberal cities are like this because the natural outcome of far left liberal policies is homeless, drug use and violence.
Where do the funds come from? Us!
By funds an assume you are referring to taxes. Taxes are paid by the tax payer and can take many forms such as income tax, sales tax, and land transfers taxes.
I don't call myself taxpayers. It is a donation because it has a very limited return.
Why does the city I live in have a homeless and drug addiction issue?
because we closed all the asylums rather than fixing the problems they had
Its not the politicians fault. Maybe if people didn’t do drugs and have “special interests groups” push to make drug use socially acceptable, maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation.
In Victoria these people have an average of 30+ charges, it's just catch and release. None of them are taken off the streets. That IS on the politicians
When a government fails to protect its own citizens it should not remain in power. Failure to protect drug importions. Failure to prosecute internal manufacturers and dealers . We are left to fend for ourselves, and if we do we get charged .
Historically narcotics alternate between stimulants and opioids in their use and we are in an opioid downturn. Lack of community and loneliness due to technology driving us apart is my theory.
Alberta is very conservative and it is also bad here.
It’s every Canadian city these days, really.
Nice try, I live in a conservative city and we have the exact same problem.
This is such an ignorant post and the comments are equally ignorant. Drug addiction and mental health issues are not a conservative vs liberal thing. Its a Canadian issue. People suffer from drug addiction in many Canadian cities and it has been going on for a few decades. Its more apparent in cities because its more densely populated. When I see posts like these, I feel like the poster is from some small backward hick town in Canada and is on their first visit to a big city in Canada.
It shows up in small towns as well. It's just as bad and people are well aware of it. It's just out of sight.
California has 50% of the US entire homeless population. This is not because Californians are somehow more prone to drug abuse or mental illness. It’s because the local policies enable and attract the homeless, the addicts, and the mentally ill into the state. Perhaps you should not be calling people ignorant small town hicks, just because you either cannot see the forest behind the trees, or unwilling to admit culpability of liberal policies in cultivating homelessness.
Because conservative cities ship their homeless to liberal cities. Happens all the time.
Bro you exposed yourself as a boy when you said liberal cities. We are seeing this all across the globe.
well your tax is funding this , coz it makes sense to give more drugs to addicts via "safe supply" , addicts need more drugs , not help! #sarcasim
Of course, so they will vote for them to keep the supply
Yes, I am sure the homeless and drug addicted population has huge voter turnout.
That’s a rhetorical question, right?
Well it's a lot warmer there than Calgary.
Aren't all large cities Liberal? Homeless people end up in large cities because they have a large population to beg from
Liberal cities are goal oriented towards “equality, equity, and inclusion” which comes at the cost of actual work, as a result large companies will move out of those places and cities which cannot deal with their homeless will send them to the liberal cities because that’s where the safe injection sites are. You get people who lost jobs from companies pulling out creating homeless leading to other cities sending their homeless and it’s all over from there.
There is heroin everywhere. What is your point?
This is honestly crazy because I don't remember Victoria looking that bad a few years ago.
“Liberal cities”… LOL. In Canada that’s every city. Living with other cultures and having many neighbours and coworkers who aren’t just like you tends to make you more liberal. Hence, cities are.
Ask Trudeau......Canadians are 9 years deep and sleepin in the streets
Often bodies lay in tents for weeks or even longer sometimes.
I found some druggies. THEY ARE WVERYWHERE. TOME TO POLITICALIZE
It’s worked for a lot of politicians over the past century. If it’s not drug addicts it’s poor, “insert race here”, immigrant etc… The conservatives tend to eat that shit up.
It's because it's a port city. It's where drugs enter the country. It's not that deep.
Victoria BC, I assume? Very similar to many areas in Ontario right now. It's truly sad that their governments aren't doing more to improve the situations. What do they have in common though? They're ... both conservatively run provinces?
reminds me of that video where they were asking what people make on the streets and one woman made $250'000 from managing homeless shelters, there's a bum economy there. My friends work in a shelter/safe injection site there, must be terrifying but they get good pay and good hours so they do it. Libs spend so much money massaging the issue, there's probably more than enough money being spent to fix most of these issues it just goes towards salaries and ineffective programs that demand more and more funding but make the issues worse and then get more funding. Homelessness in Vancouver is actual insanity, this is an ancient [article](https://bc.ctvnews.ca/one-homeless-person-costs-171-000-a-year-1.365403) but even in 2009 one homeless would cost $170'000 to sustain yearly, that's probably around the average cost now. There are so many people working on taking care of the homeless and they incur so many more costs that I think at this point if we cut all of it and just pay these people how much they cost society the homeless would be the 1%
When misfits run your political units this is what you get. When your leadership is insecure, feels traumatized or oppressed or just constantly relies on feelings in their day to day decisions rather than information, wants equity over meritocracy, ego over humility, wants everyone to feel happy, and doesn’t know how to balance a budget or set meaningful milestones, this is what you get.
We are becoming what Portland and Seattle were before the pandemic. Portland and Seattle have become much worse. We are going to become much worse From watching them I have learned that a drugged out homeless person is called a "Goul" and if they have their pants around their waists it's because they used their belts to get high, and hit the high before they got the belt back on. Yeah, that is an unfortunate hell and a true reality that we need to come to terms with and deal with, not just ignore and hope the government takes care of it. The goverment isn;t coming to help us. They are only interested in people with expencive watches and underware like them, because thats the only type of people they relate with.
Wetaskawin is like that and I would not call them a liberal city by any means
Tranq drug turning everyone into zombies. The apocalypse is nigh.
Calgary is probably Canada's most conservative large city and we have the same thing. Probably the only thing preventing it from being as bad as coastal BC is the geography.
Ya, I noticed that in all conservative cities (whatever the fuck that is) has no homeless or drug addicts. What kind of idiot writes articles like this?
But Canada isn’t broken, rampant homelessness and mental illness and drug addiction are signs of a thriving society! - Justin Trudeau probably
What a dumb take. At least provide some evidence that what you say may be true instead of sharing your snowflake feelings on a subject.
Reading this while seeing the exact thing downtown Ottawa. Especially today since we are 2nd day of the month.
I think the real goal of so- called liberalism is to take anything that works, is beautiful and graceful and turn it into something that is ugly. Look at liberal art, architecture or even most liberal women. All ugly as sin. They cannot handle anything remotely beautiful and have to seek it out and destroy under guise of progress!
Why are all liberal cities like this? Because the conservative cities kicked them all out.
Maybe cut back on a certain drug and the problem will solve itself.....
MCGA lol go trudea
Same in the US.
Partially because that's where the services are. In Victoria homeless population is very thick around shelters and soup kitchens. However you walk a block away, and suddenly you only see families and tourists. I would argue the later are worse than homeless.
The tent cities in Victoria keep moving to anywhere they can until they get kicked out
Well they gotta live somewhere.
Many HAVE been given places to live, they trash or burn them. A few years ago, one of the "leaders" of the tent city was found to own her own house.
It isn’t liberal issue it is a drug issue. let’s solve the problem.
Liberal policy is why the problem has gotten so bad.
This isn't hard. Bad policies have consequences no matter how much liberal mindsets love to try and dispute this.
Fuck the labels. Tell me how you would fix the problem bud. Actually fix the problem not just jail the ones today and keep jailing the new one. . Tell me how to solve this crisis or you are just another mouthpiece spewing bullshit.
All cities are like this regardless of politics. Conservatives don't help them through any programs and just push the problem into less visible areas so as to not offend you, and liberals have ineffective programs and let the drug use happen in the open
This is literally the demographic that liberals thrive on. Drugged out snowflakes that are too useless and fragile, isolated and high on weed, opioids and pseudo woke ideologies.
Thrive in what way? The fuck...lol
That's the result of having leftist idiots in power at all levels, federal, provincial, and municipal. Lisa Helps did a LOT of damage to Victoria, it's a nightmare to go downtown anymore
Because the conservatives created it, liberals just exacerbated it
Liberals want to solve the “climate crisis” and give money away to other countries and for reconciliation. This is the collateral damage across all Western democracies. We all pay for their policies. Some just pay a whole lot more.
Victoria is nothing like Peterborough, Ontario!!! Peterborough is conservative city in conservative province. Peterborough has got to be one of the worst in Canada ffs!
They don't want to focus on smaller towns. That breaks the narrative. Every time I look at moving to one of those places the same issues pop up.
What’s a conservative city look like?
Again! Total idiots trying to make this human issue a Party issue! Listen you morons; NONE of our parties are anything other than traitors to the people of Canada. Voting for any of these parties is just a vote to keep making this worse! Vote for independent thinkers! Stop voting for Kang!
Simple, because of their Liberal policies.
Post this in r/Canada..... Reference the US liberal cities too.... You'd think liberal/socialist people would finally understand.... But no, they'll scold you. Btw liberal and Canadian liberal are two different things. My political views are liberal. I have always voted Canadian conservative.
Id imagine you could count on one hand how many cities in North America are not liberal though. Its kind of like saying rural conservative.
I should have said socialist cities