Here’s what I see happening in the inner city of Winnipeg.
The proverbial ‘tap’ has been on for years. Governments turn on the taps of funding, unleashing a torrent of grants and programs and workers into the inner city. Yet, year after year, there’s never enough money in the tub to wash away the ills of the inner city.
Taxpayers nervously clutch their wallets with each announcement of additional funding. But why does it seem that despite the money, nothing’s really changing in the inner city?
Policies of accountability and support are like the stopper in a drain. Unless they are in place, more money goes down the drain than stays in the community, no matter how high you crank the ‘taps.’
This week there’s been more focus on the problem of prostitution in our neighbourhood. Businesses and residents are crying for relief. Agencies use the opportunity to demand more money for more workers, safehouses and cops. Politicians prattle on about the complexity and longevity of the problem. But without clear direction, the spending is bound to be futile and conflicted.
Governments fund safety patrols that tell hookers to get off our streets. At the same time, they fund other groups that defend the right of women to work any corner they choose.
Politicians lean on cops to make arrests. But the court system negates the police work. I figure judges take the crime of solicitation less seriously since prostitution itself is not illegal.
Still, I wish that judges and crowns attorneys would use their contact with these women to offer help. Offer them a choice. A year in jail for the crime of solicitation or three months at a camp in the country to explore the issues that put them on the street and plan alternative ways of dealing with life. Sure beats a fine or a three day “Jane School.”
Without policy support and legal resolve, all the resources poured into our community won’t change much except our taxes.
I was talking to a welfare worker the other day about an addict I know. The guy is slowly killing himself. I suggested that we brainstorm to find a way to use his welfare cheque to encourage healing rather than enabling his addiction. The worker said, “I know what you mean, but that’s not our mandate.”
Workers in the system know they’re assisting the suicide of addicts, but their policies prevent them from using their position to facilitate help. Furthermore, he told me that if the client is severely addicted he’ll probably be classed as “disabled” by welfare and provided a few extra dollars a month. And they call that “social assistance?”
And to make things worse, we have so-called progressive politicians pondering the virtues of taxpayer funded, criminally sheltered shooting galleries for addicts. What’s next?
Governments say they’re serious about renovation of homes, yet discourage renovations of older homes with unrealistic building code requirements and property tax punishments for renovation improvements in the inner city.
Our community faces a problem with kids running roughshod over property, residents and workers. The problem is often compounded with parents either too drunk or too overwhelmed to deal with the situation. I figure these kids are “at risk.” Should CFS be more proactive? In some cases, maybe social assistance and family allowance cheques should be linked to parenting courses and parental effort.
I’ve had cases where social workers told me that it doesn’t matter if every adult in the house is stone-cold drunk, as long as there’s one sober person in the home over 12 years old. Then the kids are not officially at risk. This is child protection?
Government advocates safety for downtown residential communities. But at the same time they keep zoning and licensing enterprises that jeopardize safety of residents and drag down property values. This is planning?
I’ve got more examples, but I’m not sure anyone cares.
Double-minded, double-talking, and double-spending haunt our neighbourhood. Government folk talk about funding enforcement and legalization, preventing and facilitating problems. All at the same time, and from the same wallet!
Usually I sympathize with politicians, no matter their political stripe, because they’ve got a tough job. But sometimes I get mad. I won’t listen to talk about complexity of our issues when the real problem is the duplicity of their policies.
So, next time you hear the sound of a running tap, would someone please check to make sure the stopper’s in the drain?
Rev. Harry Lehotsky
514 Maryland Street
Winnipeg, Mb R3G 1M5
(204) 775-4929
lehotsky@escape.ca