[StealthGirl]

The reason people are talking about homelessness is because it is so evident in our downtown. We keep hearing about how we need our downtown to be vibrant because, bottom line, downtown properties pay a lot of property tax. But no one wants to go downtown and deal with the homeless. They want free parking six feet from the door where they are going or they complain there is no parking downtown. We all know the downtown has a lot of parking. A lot of people won't park and walk 2 blocks because they don't want to be harassed or panhandled.

Maybe there are a lot of assumptions that homeless are responsible for crime. The police want yet another budget increase (and they have received a budget increase every year since 2011).

Maybe the mayor doesn't want to talk about homelessness, but it is apparent that there is an appetite for that discussion. Yes, it's shouldn't just be on the city. The province needs to help but has no interest. Awassis got federal funding to extend their hours overnight for their warming shelter but we can't look to the feds for everything while our premier focuses on rage farming and our mayor focuses on new shiny projects. There is only one taxpayer and we can only hand over so much money.