The Lady That’s Known as Lou

The streets of Hell are paved with good intentions — God helps those who help themselves.  Says Les Leyne in the Victoria Times Colonist: “One thing the campers at Victoria’s tent city have accomplished is a sharp increase in the

Constable Action

number of shelter beds made available for the homeless .. ” The Victoria Establishment do-gooded aplenty but gained nothing. The people themselves helped themselves and won places to sleep in.
Even the B.C. tory government’s Constable Action, Rich Coleman, has accomplished nothing. (Action’s dynamic career has included: Joining the RCMP as a constable and leaving as a constable; failing to make B.C. the center of the global LNG industry and getting kicked out of  court when he tried to elbow Victoria’s tent-citizens out of Tent City). Coleman wants another kick at the cat and has waddled around trying to get Tent City’s neighbours to swear hyped-up  against the bums. The neighbours are tired of Action’s soliciting. Even Victoria City Police refuse to finger the tenters.

I was up at the U.Vic Faculty Club last night earnin’ an honest livin’. When I heard this politico/prof mouth the following in Professor Speak: “Tent cities are necessary spaces for many people to survive the conditions created and perpetuated by colonialism, neoliberalism and austerity policies.” Note  Les Leyne  says, in The Victoria Times Colonist, that all them UVic Profs ain’t been near the tent-city. Anyway, when a prof speaks Professor he palavers out big ism-nouns and long-winded adjectives. I tell my apprentices who are workin’ their way thru university but not gettin’ screwed by student loans: “Sure use Professor Speak to suck up to profs and such. But Professor Speak don’t work when yer tryin’ to pick up clients or explainin’ why ya’need  the dough. Then ya’ gotta’ use simple language — Reherse then test with The Flesch Readibility Index or try what yer goin’ to pitch a’fore ya’ pitch it us using the simple “Writer” test. Out of 100, many of Obama’s speeches get a 65, the prof blatherin’ away at the Faculty Club got -15.9%.”

LINKS
June 7, 2016 – Has B.C. Bolstered case against Victoria tent city? – Les Leyne – The new bulked-up application amounts to the government saying “we found some more angry neighbours”?

For 40 years, when he could get in, Charlie slept in “homeless shelters”. If he couldn’t, he slept on a sidewalk – close as possible to a warm air vent. He hung around the Victoria Public Library during the day. The cops kicked him out if he smelt too high. He had to sing hymns for his dinner at the Sally Ann. Then Charlie got to thinkin’: “If we pitch a tent in a city park, the kops pull it down at first light ’cause the City of Victoria owns the park. But how about where the city don’t own the land?” “Let’s giver her a try. Are there any parks around that the City don’t own?” “Well how about the Court House lawn?” said Shyster John.” “Let’s give her a try,” laughed Charlie. Next night, they pitched their tents and cracked a bottle of cheap red wine and  started on a joint. “How are we gonna’ keep real crazies and real trouble-makers out a here, Shyster?”

“We’ll just draft some troops to guard the gates.”

“And what if troops don’t want to be drafted?”

“We’ll set up the law of jungle — which we already have anyway. When someone steals someone’s begging spot — don’t last long does it? It’ll be similar for not helpin’ out”

Seven months later, Charlie and Shyster and 80 more of them have a home and they made it themselves and no do-gooder or government suit made it for them. They shamed ’em into giving them water and toilets. And the morale of they and all their buddies and their self-worth shot up higher than the atmosphere.

LINKS:
2016-06-01 – Ivory tower is a long way from tent city – Les Leyne
2016-05-28 – Tent city is making Victoria a little less kind – Jack Knox
2016-05-27 – Government to seek eviction of tent city residents over fire risk – Lindsay Kines
2016-05-26 – Are children being abused in Victoria’s tent city? – Lindsay Kines
2016-05-25 – Tent city must not define us as a community – Victoria’s mayor Lisa Helps
2016-05-24 – All of us should stand with tent-city residents – Noah Ross