Letterbox: With no shelter in place for winter, homeless people can’t afford the status quo

Dear editor,

Twenty-one years ago this December, I wrote my first letter-to-the-editor about the plight of the poor and homeless in our community.

Over the course of the next 21 years I had numerous letters about the plight of the poor published in our community newspapers, and many people commended me for my words. Yet in that same time, despite my moving words, the plight of the poor and homeless – as well as attitudes toward the poor – have continued to get worse.

Now we come to the present, and we’re told that this could be a record winter for cold and wet, while at the same time we are also told there will be no winter shelters for the homeless. Yes, you heard that right, the homeless in our community will be left out on their own while the rest of us are inside warm and dry with a safe place to sleep for the night.

I suppose when we readily accept people overdosing and dying in our streets, is it much of a stretch to accept people freezing to death?

Coquitlam’s homeless shelter has been at capacity since it opened in 2015. Neighboring communities have only allowed the situation to worsen through their own inaction; one choosing to insult the homeless and adopt a policy of shifting them elsewhere, while the other has engaged in a war of words with the province. Here in Coquitlam, our city council has gone from being proactive and building a shelter for the homeless to regretting said shelter and shutting down tent cities whose residents have nowhere to go.

Doing nothing is no longer an option. Politicians equivocate, and leaders do the hard work and actually lead. It’s time to decide, do we want more equivocation from our elected representatives, or do we want actual leaders who will roll up their sleeves and lead?

In the absence of leadership, we get the status quo, and I’m telling you right now, the homeless in our community can no longer afford the status quo. When someone actually freezes to death will a leader finally step up, or will we all just turn a blind eye?

Rob Bottos