Sympathy for the homeless, but perhaps not our votes

Sure, most of us sympathize with and are concerned about the plight of the homeless in Kelowna.

We support, in principle, efforts to tackle the issue and we’re careful to say all the right things about the homeless problem.

But homelessness isn’t an issue that directly affects the daily lives of most people who subscribe to this newspaper or who will vote in the Oct. 20 civic election.

It’s like the news on our World pages. It’s interesting. We probably have an opinion on it, but our lives today or tomorrow won’t change because of it.

Spin the topic around a little bit, however, and things may change.

Instead of feeling sorry for the homeless, let’s appeal to our inner Trump and become afraid of them.

They look scary and dirty when we walk by them downtown. Downtown shelters, like the new Cornerstone and long-existing Gospel Mission only encourage them to hang around, where they use drugs and threaten to disrupt the days of otherwise carefree citizens and the business owners trying to serve them.

These two points views of the homeless situation in Kelowna may become the hot-button debate of the upcoming civic campaign.

Mayor Colin Basran, who’s seeking a second term, said addressing the city’s social problems was his top priority when he launched his re-election campaign in May.

“We need to work to find homes for everybody in our community, make sure that they’re supported and make sure that they’re the best they can possibly be,” Basran told reporters. “So right now I’d say social issues are probably top of mind for most people.”

The city is devising a plan with an estimated cost of $47 million to provide housing to hundreds of street people over the next five years. Most of the funding is expected to come from higher governments.

On the campaign trail, Basran and other incumbents will list their efforts and accomplishments over the past four years to tackle the city’s social issues, as Coun. Mohini Singh did in a speech recently to the North Okanagan Labour Council.

Their opponents will be talking about the same issues.

The homeless situation and downtown safety looks to be a campaign theme for former chamber of commerce head Tom Dyas, who is likely to be Basran’s top competitor.

In March, Dyas joined a chorus of business voices expressing concern about a lease extension for the Cornerstone shelter on Leon Avenue.

But more recently, he joined with Inn from the Cold, as that group made a plea to find a new location for its winter shelter.

At his campaign launch on Wednesday, Dyas said he would have “stronger discussions” on homelessness and public disorder.

Candidates who want to get tough on the homeless will have a difficult balancing act to perform. They won’t want their criticisms to sound like they’re against all homeless people or all shelters.

Bob Schewe, another mayoral candidate, says the situation downtown is “horrendous.”

Schewe said he knows how to fix the problem, but, as most people know, homelessness, loitering, drug use, downtown crime and unsightliness are not easy issues.

Drug use, mental health, family woes and a hard-to-break cycle of poverty are some of the contributing factors to a complex problem.

The city’s plan involves a housingfirst strategy that believes getting the homeless a roof is the first step to dealing with the other problems.

But former Coun. Graeme James, who will also be on the campaign trail, claims many of the homeless don’t want shelters.

It’s an issue we’re going to hear about a lot, but will we still be listening when other issues closer to our wallets, like city spending, parks and other amenities, and tax rates are brought up?