Ward 3 needs a leader that will fight to help its vulnerable residents
I met Val (name changed to protect her privacy) on Barton and Wentworth. When I first saw her, she was face down in a doorway. Worried she was overdosing, I touched her shoulder. When she finally woke I realized I had been holding my breath, afraid she was gone. With one kid in the stroller and the other running ahead, Val and I walked home to get her some supplies. On the way, she told me about her current situation - how someone had stolen most of her belongings including all of her warm clothing.
It's already getting cold," she said worriedly.
We discovered that I knew her mother through community work I'd done close to a decade ago. Now Val is living her mother's story in the same neighbourhood.
There is a local businessperson running for council whose website claims We have always been very accepting in Ward 3, but the entire city should share this responsibility." The responsibility" he's talking about are the people who require supports that are to be made available in our area, specifically life-saving consumption and treatment services (CTS). This candidate and some Ward 3 residents are highly resistant to the proposed CTS locations, despite their proximity to those who actually need the services. Fearmongering around the supposed dangers that safe-use sites pose to children, vulnerable people and businesses must be addressed with education, since common arguments against harm reduction are most often rooted in stigma around drug-use and homelessness rather than fact. Candidates like Walter Furlan will say they support CTS, but follow that up with a list of multiple locations where they don't belong.
Instead of sidestepping an important conversation, we need to ask ourselves some hard questions. Do I see people who use drugs as my neighbours, as vulnerable, and deserving of safety? Do I understand that there are lethal consequences to unhoused individuals when CTS are inaccessible? Do I believe that, with proper support and connection, safety can be built in my community? What has happened to us that we're comfortable with mass death, but uncomfortable sharing the block with someone who is clinging to life? How long will we fool ourselves into thinking that the wealthy won't discard us too unless we keep fighting our way up the ladder and in the process lose the ability to care for others?
Furlan's signs adorn several houses and businesses in my neighbourhood. I count them while I walk to work, where over 140 people come for free food every day - 140 people who have been failed by our systems and leadership. I think of Val and her tired swollen feet. Many of us are so full of fear that we've lost the ability to see someone in Val's situation as human. When we label people who are unhoused or use drugs as dangerous" we simply perpetuate the idea that we are somehow more deserving of safety or that our children should only see or interact with certain classes of people.
Our community is in desperate need of courageous, creative and uncynical leaders who will offer education around substance use, harm reduction, the benefits of social services, and the failings of our legal system. As voters we must refuse to leave any of our neighbours behind when considering whose name to select on the ballot.
Jo Aitcheson is a mother of two and an engaged citizen in Ward 3. These views are her own and not endorsed by any organizations or campaigns.