COLLINS: Social problems continue to plague our cities
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COMMUNITY SAFETY is rapidly emerging as a major concern for cities around the world. And I think it will continue for some time.
Over the course of history, cities have always been under some kind of threat, whether it be from the conquering tribes of old, to violence in cities where law and order could not be maintained, to the wild west, where a single lawman was expected to maintain law and order against a lot of but outlaw gangs, cowboys looking for trouble after long days in the saddle, into the 1920s with prohibition and mobs fighting with police in the middle of city streets, race riots, turning to political riots — and who knows? What’s next?
The reality is much of this social disorder doesn’t come a with a specific focus. It has several sides that have become smaller creeks which eventually turn into a raging river. On the streets at any given time, we could have homeless people with nowhere to go, drug addicts, homeless drug addicts and petty criminals who may also be addicts, but are also engaged in minor thefts and often fires. Each of these streams have their own particular needs for treatment and we really don’t have the resources to deal with these issues.
The NDP would be happy to just dump a bunch of money into the system, which is the fastest way to get some photo ops, but is also the fastest way to shove these problems under the rug.
