I think I should back up a bit and explain how he's talking about my being front line.
Starting in 1990, I was involved with the bylaw department, oversaw the bylaw department, started out my career with the bylaw department, and dealt with many homeless people on a daily basis. I'd instruct staff and I helped staff follow the rules that I set down. I always believed, whether we saw a homeless person for the first time or the thousandth time, that we'd treat them with dignity and respect and try to put them in touch with resources. In the township, I worked really well with Fraser Holland. He started with an outreach program from Stepping Stone, and we worked really closely together.
Over the years, I have thought that what works well is forming a relationship with these people. I think that there's an element of mistrust when you first approach them, and over time that kind of subsides. If you can get a rapport with them and get them looking at alternatives....
Mayor Read brought up a good point in saying that to house somebody and not have the other elements to go with it to support them is just doing a disservice to them. I've seen the failure of putting people into a residence who then get evicted the following month because all of a sudden they have a few friends they socialize with out in the encampments, and now they're housing there, and pretty soon they've got shopping carts full of stuff. I think the success is in forming the relationships.
I think Mayor Read also touched on something that's very difficult. I've been in politics or around politics for many years, more than I'd care to remember sometimes, but I find that Nimbyism really.... You have a plan, you put it in place, you're looking toward getting a structure built that's going to help these people, and all of a sudden the placards go up, the petitions go up, and they say “Not in my neighbourhood”. It has to be somewhere, right?
I think if it's done correctly, you have to take a stand and say, “This is where it's going to be built. This is for the betterment of the community; it's for betterment of mankind, womankind, childkind, whatever.” You have to make a point somewhere along the line, and politics does seem to get in the way provincially, federally, and municipally sometimes. There are people looking toward the next election, so things don't always go the way we want to see them go.
I hope that answered you.