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‘Marginalized’ is wearisome babble

Re: “A mat on the floor is not a housing solution,” letter, Sept. 29.

Re: “A mat on the floor is not a housing solution,” letter, Sept. 29.

Notwithstanding the letter-writer’s public spirit associated with working in street outreach where one can only imagine what she must have to deal with, to blame it all on what she refers to as “our broken system” is a bit of an overstatement.

Moreover, when she speaks of how the tent city, euphemistically referred to as Camp Namegans, provides a sense of security to its inhabitants, she conveniently overlooks how insecure those hard-working, taxpaying citizens who reside in the surrounding area are made to feel by the presence of a drug-infested group of people who are “terrorizing” the community with reported break-ins and vandalism.

Perhaps this is another example of the writer “not seeing the forest for the trees,” not to mention the need for many of these tent-dwellers to both recognize and accept the consequences of their decisions to live out a nomadic and debilitating lifestyle. Being portrayed as being “marginalized” by society has become wearisome babble by social activists and not necessarily a reflection of reality.

If only our political leadership would demonstrate some spine by calling out these tent-dwellers to be more accountable instead of pandering to their every need, our communities would be better served on both sides of the divide.

Clive King

North Saanich