Hating the Homeless in Coquitlam

32 posts / 0 new

Fri, 2010-11-12 15:18

Basement Dweller

Check out these forums on the City of Coquitlam website:

http://www.coquitlam.ca/cqforum/Default.aspx?g=topics&f=30

i see someone apparently cut off the debate on October 14th. Nonetheless, hateful comments are still up there equating the homeless to pedophiles.

I think most people in our suburb support housing the homeless, but a couple hundred hotheads have gone so far as to loudly threaten city councillors:

"Remember, I've got your address. I'll find you."

Read more: http://www.thenownews.com/business/Shelter+debate+turns+nasty/3769461/story.html#ixzz156KBKFkG

Anyhow, there is a public hearing on November 29th for anyone who wants to stand up for the downtrodden.

Fri, 2010-11-12 18:19

kablooee87

Hateful comments aside, the main argument seems to be that a facility is needed but not at that location because of its proximity to the neighborhood. What's the counterargument to that?

Fri, 2010-11-12 18:35

Basement Dweller

They provide no reasonable evidence to show that its a bad location. Why not that location? Its on backroad of a commercial strip between railway tracks and the Lougheed Hwy. Near public transit.

No matter where you put it, it will be near a neighbourhood. People live in more mixed areas these days.

Fri, 2010-11-12 18:54

Cueball

kablooee87 wrote:

Hateful comments aside, the main argument seems to be that a facility is needed but not at that location because of its proximity to the neighborhood. What's the counterargument to that?

I love this crap. I had enough of it from shithead Ford. He opposes shelters in Etobicoke. Of course, we get all Etobicoke's homeless downtown because that is where the shelters are. People in the burbs are just going to have to take care of their own, the selfish assholes. If Coquitlam folks want to deal with homelessness they can give Coquitlam homeless people places to live as opposed to turning downtown into mini-purgatory for the unwanted.

As for the hateful comments, they pretty much tell you everything you need to know about what kind of morons are making the argument.

Fri, 2010-11-12 20:35

Basement Dweller

Yeah, I'd guess a lot of the people who stay there are long-time Coquitlam residents who've been living in the ravines for many years. I think New Westminster has been the major destination for Coquitlam's unwanted. Its good to see all of Coquitlam council taking some responsibility on this. Even though Sekora is being a giant douchebag, he is still supporting it, as far as i know.

And the concern about property values is probably without merit. Shelters in Vancouver are right next way more expensive real estate that has not been impacted by this.

Fri, 2010-11-12 21:49

Pogo

Not in my back yard is built on fears, mostly unfounded. However the fears are real. A year ago we organized a workshop in Richmond on building community consensus. One of the important steps is that you have to respect peoples fears and address them. I can think of many examples where the harshest critics are won over by responding to their arguments rather than dismissing them. In Vancouver they built a large supported housing shelter on Fraser Street. Big fight and lots of people up in arms, yet through patience and persistence many of the staunchest critics moved first to an oversight committee and then to active members of the board.

We have been far less sucessful in Richmond, but one of the main requirements is that you need solid support from local political leadership. Unfortunately our municipal councillors from all political stripes abandoned the last project.

Good Luck!

Sat, 2010-11-13 00:06

Ripple

Please don't use the term douchebag. [url=http://rabble.ca/babble/news-rest-us/rabbles-politics-dividing-left][col... have had this discussion before.[/color][/url]

Sat, 2010-11-13 00:14

Cueball

George Takei calls an anti-gay school trustee a douchebag.

Sat, 2010-11-13 00:28

Ripple

oh, well, it's ok then. Really, Cueball?

Sat, 2010-11-13 01:28

#10

Bacchus

Cueball wrote:

kablooee87 wrote:

Hateful comments aside, the main argument seems to be that a facility is needed but not at that location because of its proximity to the neighborhood. What's the counterargument to that?

I love this crap. I had enough of it from shithead Ford. He opposes shelters in Etobicoke. Of course, we get all Etobicoke's homeless downtown because that is where the shelters are. People in the burbs are just going to have to take care of their own, the selfish assholes. If Coquitlam folks want to deal with homelessness they can give Coquitlam homeless people places to live as opposed to turning downtown into mini-purgatory for the unwanted.

As for the hateful comments, they pretty much tell you everything you need to know about what kind of morons are making the argument.

I am proud to say the ONLY homeless shelter not located in downtown toronto is in my neighbourhood in North Toronto. Oddly enough it IS Rob (now Doug) Ford's ward. Must really grind their gears

Sat, 2010-11-13 01:40

#11

Basement Dweller

In Defense of "Douchebag"

http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2009/11/16/in-defense-of-douchebag/

"Douching is terrible for women; it can lead to infection and irritation. Even teen magazines will tell you this! Douches exist only because women have been told that our bodies are unclean."

Sat, 2010-11-13 02:50

#12

Ripple

I didn't want to derail this thread. I live in Vancouver. I work with homeless and underhoused people every day. I asked you not to use a word I find alienating and offensive. I provided a link to a babble conversation on the topic. But whatever.

Thanks, babble.

Sat, 2010-11-13 03:51

#13

Cueball

Yes. Precisely my point. This thread should stay on topic. I am surprised it got any responses at all, quite frankly.

Sun, 2010-11-14 22:55

#14

kablooee87

For the record I wasn't expressing an opinion either way. I saw one side of the argument and thought it might be beneficial to ask for the other.

Mon, 2010-11-15 12:38

#15

Catchfire

Hi, I'd like this thread to get back on target too, but I wanted to chime in and support Ripple here. Douchebag is a sexist term which relies on misogynist logic to insult someone, and it's not allowed on babble. As Ripple points out, the discussion has been had. Please refrain from using it, thanks.

Thanks for this story, BD. Sadly, Coquitlam isn't the only place in the Vancouver area where the homeless are hated.

Mon, 2010-11-15 14:36

#16

Fidel

Basement Dweller wrote:

I think most people in our suburb support housing the homeless, but a couple hundred hotheads have gone so far as to loudly threaten city councillors:

"Remember, I've got your address. I'll find you."

Yep, Stalin didn't go far enough.

Mon, 2010-11-15 14:53

#17

alan smithee alan smithee's picture

I am so fuckin' tired of the growing anti-poor yuppie movement.

I read the first line in the second thread...'...crackheads living in the park with their needles'

I don't know who this fucktard was who said this but a little news to this idiot : Crackheads smoke,they don't shoot.

The whole thing reminds me of Jim Flaherty's 'brilliant' idea when he was seeking to replace Mike Harris of making homelessness illegal---right in the middle of a housing crisis--which,by the way,this country is STILL mired in.

It also reminds me of an editorial from my local news station in response to rebuilding the crumbling Turcot interchange.

He endearingly praised the government for not cowtowing to those who wanted 'tofu restaurants' on every corner and praised the gov't for expropriating (kicking people out of their homes) at a 'minimum'

What would one describe a society,a state or a country that criminalizes the poor?

I'm not sure but it certainly isn't a democracy...to say the least.

Mon, 2010-11-15 18:16

#18

Fidel

The homeless are hated here in Liberal Ontario, too. Timmins is the latest town where homeless people are making the Pinocchio government look bad.

Wed, 2010-11-17 19:57

#19

mybabble

Homelessness

and how it all came about

in the wealthy Nation of Canada

the outcomes are often the same

no matter the reasons

it is a national disaster in the making

even if government's

inaction helped it manifest

keeping those most in need

from finding a safe place

as society loses it connection

with each other

the way things are

trying to find an out

from the cold pouring rain

the hatred know

kicks them in their sleep

robs and rapes them in the night

steals their self respect in the day

fear and ignorance

burned alive

dead on their feet

frostbitten in the frigid cold

a sharp knife

a gun to the head

a baseball bat

a cop on the beat

traumatized

cut into pieces

in different ways

the silence of the night

a siren sounds

no longer alone

with more to fear than you think

muffled screams go unheard

society in the dark

by Colleen Moore

Wed, 2010-11-17 19:57

#20

Basement Dweller

Their rally is actually in Poco. This zone of ignorant, fearful rage takes in two low-density neighourhoods in two different suburbs as the shelter will be right near the Coquitlam/Poco border. Those 200 hotheads are divided roughly evenly by that border so their political impact is dissipated.

They were thrown a bone when Coquitlam Council agreed to include the Poco area in their public hearing. But this is clearly going ahead. If the locals were thinking clearly, they would have put the best spin on it rather than blow everything out of proportion. It really won't be that bad. The fools undermined their own property values.

I wonder if these people have ever rallied for anything that didn't involve their own narrow interests.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/tri_city_maple_ridge/tricitynews/news/1085311...

Wed, 2010-11-17 19:59

#21

Basement Dweller

weird we posted at exactly the same time

Wed, 2010-11-17 21:21

#22

RosaL

alan smithee wrote:

I am so fuckin' tired of the growing anti-poor yuppie movement.

I read the first line in the second thread...'...crackheads living in the park with their needles'

I don't know who this fucktard was who said this but a little news to this idiot : Crackheads smoke,they don't shoot.

Yet another derailment: 'fucktard' (with all its variants) is every bit as bad as 'douch-bag'. I assume I don't need to explain this.

Wed, 2010-11-17 23:32

#23

cruisin_turtle

Thanks Rosal, Ripple and Fidel for keeping civility in this forum.

Thu, 2010-11-18 00:38

#24

RevolutionPlease RevolutionPlease's picture

Thanks mybabble for that poem. Hope everyone reads it.

Thu, 2010-11-18 13:40

#25

alan smithee alan smithee's picture

Well,I'd like to first say that this was not the first time ' fucktard' graced the comments at rabble (and that was the first time I used that term here so needless to say,others have used it before me)

I'm not going to get into a pissing contest over words like the world war that broke out over the word ' douche bag' ,so I will not use fucktard again.

But I'm not going to apologize either...These people who are working hard to criminalize those who are living at or below the poverty level need to be called out...They are scum of the earth.

What these self-involved,greedy pr**ks(self censored to not offend the sensitive) fail to recognize in the game of life is that ANYTHING can happen to ANYONE at ANY time....Life is funny that way.

It's this ' me,me,me' and fuck you attitude which is shaping our damned government that is regressing our society.

Sorry I labeled them for what they are...And with that,I'm done with the term ' fucktard'

Thu, 2010-11-18 13:45

#26

RosaL

alan smithee wrote:

Well,I'd like to first say that this was not the first time ' fucktard' graced the comments at rabble (and that was the first time I used that term here so needless to say,others have used it before me)

I'm not going to get into a pissing contest over words like the world war that broke out over the word ' douche bag' ,so I will not use fucktard again.

But I'm not going to apologize either...These people who are working hard to criminalize those who are living at or below the poverty level need to be called out...They are scum of the earth.

What these self-involved,greedy pr**ks(self censored to not offend the sensitive) fail to recognize in the game of life is that ANYTHING can happen to ANYONE at ANY time....Life is funny that way.

It's this ' me,me,me' and fuck you attitude which is shaping our damned government that is regressing our society.

Sorry I labeled them for what they are...And with that,I'm done with the term ' fucktard'

You misunderstand. My protest is not on behalf of those you call "fucktards" but those who are (over their protests) contemptuously called "retards", that is, those with "intellectual disabilities".

Thu, 2010-11-18 14:23

#27

alan smithee alan smithee's picture

Sorry about that...I agree..'retard' is an unacceptable term...BTW,I never use it.

I should have been more considerate,so I apologize for using it.

This is just an issue which makes me very angry.

But I'll calm down in the future and discuss instead of attack.

Thu, 2010-11-18 14:44

#28

RosaL

alan smithee wrote:

Sorry about that...I agree..'retard' is an unacceptable term...BTW,I never use it.

I should have been more considerate,so I apologize for using it.

This is just an issue which makes me very angry.

But I'll calm down in the future and discuss instead of attack.

Thanks. The issue you were talking about - that makes me angry too.

Thu, 2010-11-18 14:53

#29

Bacchus

I recomend 'fuckwit'

Thu, 2010-11-18 14:53

#30

RosaL

Bacchus wrote:

I recomend 'fuckwit'

Superb

Wed, 2010-12-01 02:03

#31

Basement Dweller

It passed with only fuckwit Sekora voting against it.

Some local residents bravely spoke in favour of it in the press and at the public meeting last night. One woman at the meeting said she supports the homeless shelter despite intimidation and hostility from her neighbours. A local businessman whose business is next to the proposed shelter came around to "half" supporting it, although he indicated he couldn't fully support it without pissing off location customers (I think he was genuinely swayed by the proponents during the meeting who spoke with great emotional effect).

Of course, some ignorant comments were made by a few greedheads, but the meeting was sufficiently uneventful.

Two former homeless people, who lived in the area, testified about how the cold wet weather mat program change their lives for the better.

In retrospect, I was too hard on the neighbourhood earlier. There are good people there, like anywhere.

Wed, 2010-12-01 11:26

#32

Pogo

I believe that we will only truly begin to solve the homeless/affordable housing problem in our region when the 'suburbs' like Richmond, Coquitlam and others develop a community consensus that it must be done.