LETTER: Overnight shelter not the answer to homelessness in Sidney

Re: Sidney shelter dispute sparks night-in-the-cold challenge, in the Nov. 20 Peninsula News Review. Overnight shelter programs do nothing to alleviate the homeless problem. The current issue of an unresolved shelter for the homeless is indicative of poor management within provincial and local government and some affiliated charitable organizations. It boils down to ineffective strategic planning, and no better example is found within BC Ferries in long-range planning for ship replacement among its fleet. Recent news reported that BC Ferries was ordering four replacement vessels from communist China because domestic or friendly suppliers could not meet the criteria for delivery. Clearly, the board of directors of BC Ferries, who are appointed by the province, lacked adequate due diligence in ensuring adequate planning was in place for replacement vessels. If the province cannot adequately ensure the timely replacement of vessels through essential strategic planning, how will it ever be able to deal with the ever-increasing problem of homeless people? As the homeless issue is going to get worse in the coming years, it is time for our bureaucrats and local charities to look at best-in-class performance, such as the Island Crisis Care Society and its management of Orca Place in Parksville, where qualified homeless persons can rebuild their lives through a 24/7 solution in cooperation with the City of Parksville and BC Housing. Why do we insist that all safety codes required for residential housing be required to be in place for a temporary emergency shelter? Leaving the homeless on the street during extreme weather does not meet any safety code. Anthonie den Boef Sidney