Absolutely. We know our community well. We work together, especially in this community, where we have a very connected environment of service provision. We have eyes on the ground all of the time. We know what we need in this community. We shouldn't be subject to higher levels of government making decisions about what we need in this community, decisions that are partisan-based or steeped in politics.
At the end of the day, when we have kids in need and we have vulnerable adults in need, we need to get in and support them. We do need a stronger voice, but we don't have power in the voice. lt's sad, because right now....
Fighting for vulnerable people in this community as I do comes from a long history of working with some of the aboriginal communities across our country and understanding that sometimes you have to stand in a tough pocket to make change, but at the end of the day, I shouldn't have to scream. I shouldn't have to get angry. I shouldn't have to leverage the media in order to get the resources I need for vulnerable people in this community. It's wrong. I should be able to have a conversation, which I've done with my MP, and have conversations with my MLA, and know that as Canadians, with values that support vulnerable people, we will drive the resources that we have available to make those changes.
That's not what's happening in this community. In this community, when I need services brought to something.... When I had a tent city on a residential street, I had to scream in the media. I had to bring in the opposition.
It's wrong. It's just wrong. It's a waste of my valuable resources that could be going into other things in our community, like making sure that we are driving the messages up to higher levels of government about our seniors and our kids.