Editor, The News:
Re: Caring Place is staying put (The News, Nov. 7).
All this talk over the problems created by the Caring Place needs to be turned around to find positive systems to help eliminate the situation and reduce people’s need of this type of assistance.
The Caring Place is a result of the B.C. Government’s steady decline in helping people in this socioeconomic and or mental state.
The provincial government needs to reinstate the institutes and group homes it has dismantled and no longer funds.
It also has to provide more constructive solutions and financial support to help people get back to work.
The scope of this endeavour is far greater than what the Caring Place could or should be responsible for and its role could be to complement a provincial system.
We pay in the end for the problems brought about by inaction, so we may as well pay to have a positive effect on the situation.
With that comes some sort of control and, heaven forbid, responsibility for those who need the help and weed out those who simply abuse the generosity.
If we can reduce the demand for such services as those provided by the Caring Place, we could separate the criminals from the innocent.
This isn’t about handouts for free, it’s about providing a channel for those who want and deserve a hand, and it can’t be a profit-centred commercial endeavor.
This needs to have a provincial mandate and, as such, give cities the guidelines they need to address the requirements in future planning.
Mark LeBlanc
Maple Ridge