Mr. Falcon Ouellette and I used to have an apartment in the same complex downtown. In the downtown here—I'm sure Mr. Falcon Ouellette has seen the same thing—there are three shelters, and I'm not being critical of the shelters when I say that they are the epicentres of social issues. Just in my time down there, I've seen people shooting up on the staircase of my condo where you enter. I've seen people pass out and crack their forehead wide open. I've seen a multitude of things, as many probably have in their own communities.
What I can't understand is that there is a non-stop flow of the fire department, the ambulance, EMS vehicles and police officers. It is just a continuous circle. I think to myself, if your cost is approximately $4 million a year, why would the provincial or federal government not partner with the city and put 200 beds in? The cost of the policing and the EMS has to be 10 times, even 100 times that.
Where is the disconnect here between governments and people who actually know what they're doing?