Editor, The News:
Re: Scrooge not a fan of the Caring Place (Letters, Sept. 28).
The periodic foaming-at-the-mouth concerning the presence of poor people in central Maple Ridge seems to have reached a new, and rather nasty intensity of late.
The most recent letter from Sandy Macdougall uses the metaphor of ‘rubbish’ and ‘detritus’ to refer to human beings.
Frankly, this will not do.
Would you print a letter that used similar language to describe folk living on the Katzie reserve, for example?
There are too many examples from history of the dangers of such dehumanizing language.
More generally, there is far too much misinformation and confusion in circulation at present.
These include the idea that a facility like the Caring Place attracts poor people from other places, as if there weren’t poverty, drug addiction and homelessness in our very midst.
Surely, it is time for a careful, informed and open-minded conversation (using local media, for example), not shrill, small-minded attacks.
Nick Blomley
Maple Ridge
How’d that work out?
Editor, The News:
Re: Scrooge not a fan of the Caring Place (Letters, Sept. 28).
If Sandy Macdougall does not want to sound like Scrooge, he will desist from referring to his fellow human beings as “human rubbish” and “human detritus.”
His descriptions of people are reminiscent of Scrooge’s reply when he was asked for donations to the poor. “Are there no workhouses, are there no prisons?” How did that work out for him?
Cherryl Katnich
Maple Ridge
Job offer
Editor, The News:
Re: Scrooge not a fan of the Caring Place (Letters, Sept. 28).
I am dismayed at Sandy MacDougall’s letter regarding the Caring Place.
I’m sure that we all have felt some frustration at the goings on in and around the Caring Place, but to refer to these individuals as “human rubbish” is appalling and paints them all with the same brush.
Let’s face it, “but by the grace of God go I.”
It’s possible in these difficult economic times for anybody to fall on hard times. Would they fit into Mr. Mcdougall’s definition of “human rubbish?”
To trash the place without offering any solutions is counter productive, in my view. Here are my ideas for what it’s worth.
I operate a small business in Maple Ridge and am inspired enough by Mr. Macdougall’s letter to give an individual at the Caring Place who, based on the fact that the staff feel he has potential, a fair shake at work.
Also I would encourage Caring Place staff to make overtures to the business community. If they already haven’t, to find opportunities to fit into the local work force.
Grover Telford
Maple Ridge