Unjust blame
Re: Monday Magazine "Poverty: Unacceptable" (April 4 - 10)
If I'd had a brick, I would have thrown it through the "unacceptable" tripe by the Coalition to End Homelessness at the bus stop. It is highly audacious that this group is guilt-tripping innocent people with their self-righteous "how did you sleep last night" sermon. However, the new campaign by VIPIRG is just as offensive — by unjustly blaming people who were successful enough to live in Uplands splendour. Let's gut all these 'red herrings' and start pointing the finger at the real problem: hapless politicians who speak a fiery storm and do nothing to solve the problem of homelessness; a government that spends more on photo-ops than building housing; the feds who axed funding for social housing; endless committees costing millions doing useless studies to find out what we already know. Years ago, I attended a $50-plate conference of local Victoria businesses who were committed to organizing a tour-de-force campaign to end homelessness in this city. What happened? I'm still waiting.
So, let's throw away those stupid signs that are totally "unacceptable" and send our leaders a direct message: either you house every citizen in this city or your political life is toast. And let's start building housing so no person ever sleeps on a park bench again.
Doreen Marion Gee,Victoria