LETTER – What does a ‘concentration camp’ for the homeless look like?

Many people have come to know me as a supporter of Reid Hamer-Jackson.

Little do they know, I helped the campaign of another person who ran for local municipal government and was elected to office her first time.  I had a campaign sign on our lawn and delivered a number of brochures to people who lived in the Westmount area.  I never did any of that for Reid.  So, let’s hope there is a balance in “understanding” here.

When the letter came from BC Housing about the placement of a new “facility” in front of the City sani-dump on Kingston Avenue (raw sewage is emptied from the holding tanks of RVs into a hole in the road only metres from the front gate of the new facility), the citizens of Westmount were hopeful that the person we had helped elect as a City councillor would represent our views.  It didn’t happen.  In a very real way, we felt betrayed.  Most of the feelings of betrayal were placed on this one person but two other incumbents in the 2022 election were also to be held accountable for their vote in favour of this development.

When Coun. Walsh suggested that a larger, full spectrum treatment centre be built north of Rayleigh, out came the term “concentration camp.”  A certain councillor did not want to see people rounded up against their will, set apart from the rest of the community and put into a concentration camp.  A businessman named Reid Hamer-Jackson voiced his approval for the full spectrum centre north of Rayleigh; later he would become a candidate for mayor.

This morning when I was walking Buddy, a new girl to the neighbourhood was walking her dog near Westmount Park.  We talked for a few minutes.  She then asked me, “what’s that place over there with the big tall fence all around it?”  A good question.

When I think back to the utterance of the term “concentration camp,” I have wondered what exactly that particular councillor had meant.  Would the camp be surrounded by a steel chain link fence eight feet tall?  Would it have security cameras and a locked gate….one way in and one way out?  (How does that meet with fire codes???)  Could it be placed beside a busy railway line such as the CN main line and bridge crossing the North Thompson River?  Would the citizens who enjoyed a walk or bike ride along Rivers Trail now encounter a structure such as we can see in the photo?

It’s tough to know how things would be on the inside of the fence looking out.  It’s getting tougher to remember how things were along that section of Rivers Trail before the eight-foot tall chain link fence was built.

If this same place was located in Rayleigh, would it be a true representation of a concentration camp?

JOHN NOAKES,
Citizen of Westmount