• strawberrysocial@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    I have sympathy for homeless people but I also realise they aren’t all good, harmless innocents (just like those who are lucky enough to have a home aren’t all good).

    https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/dozens-of-weapons-seized-in-encampment-removals-edmonton-police-share-graphic-images

    Some encampment activities were difficult to talk about — a disturbed camper throwing feces over the 97 Street bridge on unsuspecting passersby and cars.

    Gangs are preying on vulnerable campers, setting up “taxation” tents like trolls under bridges, demanding payment for the use of safe consumption sites, or a chance to visit an agency to get free needles, or pick up a cheque

    A 16-year-old girl was being sex-trafficked around the encampments. She was found in hospital with 75 per cent burns — under an alias.

    They were sex trafficking a child, setting up wires to behead cyclists… those aren’t good people.

    But yeah the solution isn’t to shuffle them into prison. They need homes.

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/peterborough-modular-housing-project-unhoused-people-1.7138608>

    “It’s worth every dollar. These are human lives. By making this new investment, we are going to put individuals on a new trajectory in life,” he [the mayor] said, adding that city staff are hearing from other municipalities across Ontario and the rest of Canada, as many grapple with how to deal with homelessness.

    There is a security hub, washrooms and showers separate from the units, and a service room. One of the 50 units has a toaster, toaster oven and microwave. Laundry is done off site. An indoor community space, which will include a kitchenette and laundry facilities, is not open yet.

    Each unit, which costs $21,150 to build, comes with a bed, bedding, mini fridge, smoke alarm, personal heater, air conditioning unit, and storage space. The units are side by side, with a door at the front and a window at the back.