To the editor,
Re: Security guard beaten with pipe in downtown Nanaimo, Nov. 2.
I read in the Bulletin that a security guard was hit with a pipe downtown by a prolific offender. A few weeks earlier a gas station employee was robbed with what looked like, at the time, a handgun. And during the summer a pregnant woman had a brick thrown at her. The common thread in all of these: those responsible are living on the street – many because they are addicted to drugs or mentally ill.
I have spoken with many on the street and every one I talked with said they have been in housing but do not want to follow the rules and have left on their own accord or they have been asked to leave because they have caused trouble, threatened or hit staff or fellow lodgers. They were remarkably candid. But what we constantly hear from advocates is there just needs to be more housing. That, I’ve learned, is not telling the whole truth.
With a little more investigation and background we can learn and understand what legislation needs to be changed or enacted so those on the street can be taken and housed and people protected from being hit, robbed and assaulted.
Vlad Tromblay, Nanaimo
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