Homelessness is not a crime!!

Homelessness is not a crime. We all sleep outside from time to time. How many of us like to camp?  People sleeping outside should not be arrested  nor fined, but assisted with washrooms that stay open all night. Many of the shelters are full. There are only three that are open, and these only for a set number of a days; from one to 30.  Afterward  there is no place but jails. Our finest police officers are told to pick them up and the tax payers pick up the tab.

As Mayor of Vancouver I would like to roll back taxes for  homeowners and businesses by 2%.

IF we make church’s which own the land which have buildings on them which are not part of the church,this land should be taxed at the same rate as private holdings. Giving away a bite of food shouldn’t exempt non-profits from paying there share of taxes. These holdings are taxable if where own privately,but held by non -proft  example the church which this land is held by are exempt.

This doesn’t follow the same amount for example the Dodson and Marr Hotels the owner is the church which pay NO Taxes.  Also Union Gospel Mission which owns land that play god.

Land is own by BC Housing Corporation are low cost rentals. UGM manages this property. They put on a show of giving away food in the downtown core: isn’t that nice?

Now the Harbor Light ( Salvation Army) which own large groups of property in the downtown core which most of their money comes from the taxes dollars that are run on a free loading system.

There are many religious organizations in Vancouver, such as Glad Tidings,Plus you do not want to eat the food their  because you will get sick.Their are many agencies in the lower mainland that give away food which pay no taxes but get food donated from agencies, example: Food Bank.

The food  is sold to churches that play god. This food is bought and sold to pay high union costs which the good people give freely. These are SRO’s which you the tax payers has paid for: which are given over to non-profits. Read about latest SRO News: This you must see the pictures!!! 

Taxes can be paid back to property holders by doing the following:

· placing taxes on church-held non-profit land, not on houses of worship

· decriminalizing heroin, cocaine and marijuana

· decriminalizing and employing drug addicts and ex-convicts

· building places for people to live

· legalising sex trade workers

Some of you may be wondering how this can be done. If you are a good bookkeeper it is easy to see that putting people in jail costs money. Just how much do you think it costs to put one person in jai for a year? Do think it costs: $10,000; $25,000; $100,000; or $250,000. If you answered correctly you would have chosen D, $250,000. This does not even include police time and wages, pre-trial centers, nor court and judicial costs.  Exorbitant expenses like this could be much better used in constructing residences for destitute and marginalized citizens. 3,000 to 10,000 homeless are estimated to be living in the Vancouver area. If you multiply the median of these estimates, 6500, by $250,000 you get a handsome figure of: $1 billion, 625 thousand. Now we may not keep a homeless person in jail for a year, but if he stole a car or robbed a grocery store we might consider it.

Drug addicts need safe places to shoot up. As hospitals show by example, it is very important to have sanitary conditions when treating patients. Local clinics also aim to create a safe place for users. Likewise a user needs hygienic conditions to treat him or herself. This is often not possible on dirty city streets.  Street worker also need safe places to work indoors and clean places to live. This is a much more positive alternative to criminalizing and jailing people.  It could help prevent situations we encountered with the Pickton farm incidents. In recent years the news told us that 60 or more women, many of whom were prostitutes, disappeared from the streets of Vancouver. Many of these women were reported missing by their friends and families yet the police did nothing. This reminds me of Nazi Germany where people who didn’t fit into society’s norm where taken to courts and jails and later tortured and killed in the gas chambers. How many of those Jews who went to their deaths would speak up today for those women?

I been inform that vision has set up “Homeless Company” which open 200 rooms for people who sleep out side. The same company that was doing movies on the downtown people eastend  before election Nov 22/08. I just wonder how much it cost the tax payers?? We as individuals hear no-more about the homelessness was it and inside of the NDP game I think so.