Project Connect 2009 stats

Here's an interesting document I did up for the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness as part of my work co-ordinating the Project Connect service fair last month at Our Place for the local street community. Sorry for the weird formatting in the "comments" part, but that's what Excel tables do when you paste them in Blogger, I guess.


Analysis of surveys done at Project Connect 2009
Nov. 18, 2009

The following is a summary of surveys done with participants at Project Connect 2009, held Oct. 14 at Our Place Drop-In Centre.
This is the second year of PC and the second year of doing surveys, so there is some ability to compare the data from year to year (the actual survey had to be shortened from last year due to it taking too long, so some questions asked last year were gone from this year’s survey). We managed to survey about a third of the 700+ people who attended Project Connect, and completed considerably more surveys than last year: 238 this year, up from 164 in 2008.
Survey results obviously can’t be assumed to be representative of the overall population of people living homeless or at risk in the downtown, as there are several limitations in the way we gathered the information. The volunteers at Project Connect essentially selected who they approached about doing a survey, and that person then had to be willing to complete one. Also, the surveys were done only that one day and in a single location, so anyone who wasn’t at the event wasn’t captured.
Still, they offer an interesting snapshot of the people living homeless and at risk in our community right now, as measured by who would be inclined to attend a service fair at the region’s main street drop-in.
One of the things the data reveals is an aging population that is slightly less likely than last year to be fully homeless, yet spends so much on rent that the people have ended up dependent on places like Our Place to provide them with daily meals. Some 58 per cent of respondents are currently housed, but access to affordable housing was nonetheless a top priority for the vast majority of those surveyed.
I’ve attached the Excel spreadsheet so those who are interested can look at the data themselves, but here are a few key findings:

Men are overrepresented among the homeless, but women are catching up
• Of the 100 people who reported being homeless right now, 29 per cent are female and 71 per cent are male. That’s a slight change from last year’s figures of 26 per cent female and 74 per cent male


The population is aging
• Of the 42 per cent who are currently homeless, 66.4 per cent are over age 40. Approx 10 per cent are 25 or younger.
• The age range of those who are currently homeless is from 17 to 76, but almost 40 per cent are over age 40 (47.5 per cent of women are in that age group, 65 per cent of men).
• This year, 35.5 per cent of respondents reported being over age 55, compared to 20 per cent last year.
• Young people make up just 10 per cent of the total respondents, but are experiencing disproportionately high rates of homelessness - 76 per cent of those ages 25 or younger reported being currently homeless.
• 35 per cent of those who are homeless are staying at shelters at the moment; 10 per cent of those who are homeless said they were sleeping on the streets, in parks, or in the bush

People were more likely to be housed
• 67.5 per cent of women participants and 55 per cent men said they’re currently housed. That’s up from around 50 per cent at the 2008 PC.
• Three-quarters of participants receive some level of income-assistance support from the province, with 58.4 per cent receiving both support and shelter. Those figures are very similar to last year, with a slight increase in 2009 of people receiving both support and shelter (77 per cent of those on income assistance, up from 75 per cent in 2008).
Mental illness and addiction remain major problems
• Almost half of the women surveyed (47.5 per cent) have been diagnosed with mental illness, as have 39.4 per cent of men. That’s about the same as 2008 figures.
• More than half of the men surveyed (50.6 per cent) said they have a problem with drugs or alcohol. Women were considerably less likely to have drug/alcohol problems - just 16.25 per cent said they had problems. This is a significant change from 2008, when almost half of the women surveyed reported drug/alcohol problems.
• 100 per cent of women who reported having a mental-health diagnosis also had problems with drugs/alcohol, as did 74 per cent of men with a mental-health diagnosis

People were more likely to be victims of crime
• Almost one in two people reported having been victims of crime. That’s up from 2008, when one in three reported being victims of crime.
• Men were more likely than women to have been victimized: 55 per cent of men, compared to 40 per cent of women. Of those who are currently homeless, 100 per cent reported being victims of crime
• The majority of the crimes were committed by other people living on the street or at shelters. More than a quarter of those who’d had a crime committed against them reported that the police had victimized them.
People are most likely to have a City of Victoria address
• Whether homeless or housed, most people surveyed lived in City of Victoria, 84 per cent. However, most communities in the region (with the exception of Highlands, Metchosin, and North and Central Saanich) were mentioned at least once as somebody’s home address.
Downtown services are heavily used and appreciated
• Asked what services they used, the vast majority of respondents listed Our Place, the food banks at Mustard Seed and St. John the Divine, the shelter system and the 9-10 Club (a breakfast program run out of St. Andrew’s Anglican). But many other services were mentioned, including St. Vincent de Paul, Salvation Army, REES services and casual labour pool, the needle exchange, ACT, VICOT, the Rainbow Kitchen, VIHA Alcohol and Drug services, and mental health programs.






Comments
What those surveyed wanted to tell the coalition:

• The cycle hard to get out of; more services for youth to help that cycle. Stable shelter.
Services for youth (Victoria is child prostitution capital of Canada) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• Police shouldn't put people in shelters • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• need longer term projects that teach people how to live sustainably • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• no trespass tickets, more beds, help with crim record/hire • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• housing's expensive • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• getting a house is difficult with pets • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• experience firsthand for one month like it is right now • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• build more homes • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• stop police brutality agst homeless • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• listen to people in recovery and what they need/don't need.
There is considerable prejudice in med system agst amphetamine addicts • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• homelessness is mentally damaging for most people • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• listen to the people who've been on street instead of creating prejudice for those labelled drug addicts • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• it sucks - we need more low-income housing and help for single people • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• being homeless sucks • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• youth out of rain shelter is not safe; less prejudiced landlords who are willing to rent to people • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• don't cater to homeless people; look after those trying to help selves • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• keep family in mind • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• more outreach, better attitudes • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• more support, fewer brick walls • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• H1N1 - try and help people on street; open up church for people on street • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• more Connect days • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• not much to complain about, always food • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• Shelter for people who are not addicted • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• Much need out here - getting worse every year • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• hard to pay rent, no $ for food • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• 24/7 shelter&drop-in • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• lots of diff reasons why people homeless. Open services 7 days • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• welfare rates need to go up • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• cause of homelessness isn't homelessness - it's cultural, societal, individual • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• it's n a choice - it's really hard to get out of, doesn't take long to get in • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• not fun for anybody! It's hard trying to make ends meet • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• red tape, rules changed, barriers if you in good shape • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• no address for my resume; how about a postal box for people to use for their resumes.
Appreciate your efforts • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• things are improving but more contributions needed • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• resources help those who abuse system and not those who are honest and in need.
Can't use shelter because of dog • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• expensive to live on credit; hard to access ACT team $200 subsidy • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• services great but need clothing • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• abolish needle exchange - it has led to more use of drugs • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• park people and cops kick you awake, even if you're out of sight • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• tough adjustment from 10-yr prison term • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• need more housing for the poor • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• police abusive • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• waiting for disability • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• people who care should live on streets for 1 wk for experience • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• wants to change life, needs home • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• more drop-in in evening; FBs need to make hampers for homeless people • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• smooth access to service; not fucked over • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• need affordable rents, outreach programs; difficult to rent without credit • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• when crisis grants come as food vouchers, other necessary things are inaccessible.
Inflexible and depersonalized bureaucracy • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• activities for poor people - kayak, rock climb, hike • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• we're an urban ghetto • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• Mk it more like Amsterdam • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• thanks for the help; things are pretty much in balance • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• affordable housing • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• we're no throwaway people - lots of talent, compassion among the homeless community • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• Sunday service, more for mentally ill • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• we're not all "schmucks" • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• affordable housing needed • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• I'm fine • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• important to teach people about maintaining good health • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• create living wage • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• more connect days • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• not going to get better without more help. Such a stigma to homelessness • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• not enough affordable housing with the three-strike rule.
There are people who don't have drug/alc problems who also need help • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• i would like to be working • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• we need more jobs, more homes. Open OP on weekends. We need low income housing! • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• homeless safety; more people at night to check up (vancouver angels) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• doing OK • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• more affordable housing • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• too many people on the street - they're not so hungry but they're very cold • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• thanks! • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• open more shelters, more afford housing, extended hours OP • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• build housing instead of more shelter beds • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• visit Dignity Village in Portland, tent city in Olympia, for examples of how a
community can provide real assistance to people who want to live independent lives • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• people who work with bc housing need to be more respectful • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• we don't want to be here • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• not enough done for those with disability; we all have diff needs • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• more subsidized housing • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• people don't know anything about homelessness • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• wake up, please • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• being on income assistance can hinder you in getting housing because of stigma, discrimination • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• tho I'm not homeless, my disability cheque all goes to rent. Been on bc housing list for 6 yrs! • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• #1 commit should be to people living on street • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• got apt but no food. Need help addiction • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• don't judge - we are all only one paycheque from the street • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• put more money into homelessness rather than olympics • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• more housing • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• extra funding for OP to keep open 7 days/wk; more housing • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• the feeling of exclusion can crush you • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• press government to open up closed bldgs. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• too much violence, not enough shelters. Too many condos.
More B&Es and theft in stores when government decreases support • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• more sufficient income • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• need more help, someone to listen • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• that what we receive is not sufficient to live on; will need to find PT work to make it.
Also, provide vegetarian meals • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• everybody needs a hand • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• we need more jobs, more homes. Open OP on wknds • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• there shouldn't be homelessness when we have resources • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• more money - $375 for shelter is not enough. We shouldn't be needing food banks • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• need more women's shelters; daughter was on street for 4 yrs and had lot
of negative experiences that could have been avoided had there been a women's shelter • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• please get heads out of your ass, esp police • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• more shelters needed, help with forms • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• rental assistance not available; on bc housing waitlist for 5 years • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• affordable housing is critical • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• more support for people with alcohol problems; more people to listen • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• I'm lucky - i have my own place. Others need housing • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• there is stereotyping around appearance and clothing; if you homeless, you have less value.
Bandaid solutions look good but don't address core problem • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• need more housing • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• a lot being done but access slow and frustrating • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• too expensive rent and utilities, visitors not allowed • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• panhandle in order to make up shortfall of income. Increase in local street pop due to prep for Olympics.
Not enough affordable housing, not enough being done to keep people off the streets • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• better access to counselling and psych help • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• need more room for single affodable accom. Welfare system failed me. OP very helpful • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• are there homeless people in coalition to get a firsthand experienced opinion?
Why are they stopping 4 single people from residing together? Why not using boarded-up housing? • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• live on street for week and see what it's like - a week is forever if on street • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• more counselling and self-help groups, opportunity to talk • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• it's cold, need a place to live • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• don't give us money, give us housing • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• more connect days • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• how people treat homeless and mental health people - it's sad.
Fed up with all the needles. Support for special-needs people • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• it will cost a lot more in the long run if you don't support us now • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• Without OP would go hungry - lost 10 pounds in 5 months because can't afford food.
Need affordable housing, Nx • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• raise min wage to $12/hr; more low-cost housing • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• we should buy traveller's inn • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• lack of affordable housing • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• street link shelter very good • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• law needs to change so landlords can't require credit checks • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• 1-1 talk • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• advertise this event more • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• provide nutritious food, adequate places for women, immed temp shelter • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• too many apartments are empty. Not enough support for rental places. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• talk to us • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• ask us what we need - listen to us • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• wake up! We are not units • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• get more input from the homeless • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• walk a mile in my shoes • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• free enterprise means no one wins unless someone loses - we don't really have a democracy • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• 7 wks waiting for EI to kick in - would be on street if not paid 2 month rent in advance • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• 4-hr day job not worth it • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• no co-ord • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• need safe housing, nicer staff • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• shelters not the answer - we need homes • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• a lot more BC Housing • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• hard to find public washrooms; more affordable housing for 55+ • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• need more low-cost accommodation • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• see homeless as individuals; more respect for our needs; more holistic.
One week for homeless is great, but need to continue engage and involve us • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• change attitude, we not criminals, affordable housing • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• we need access to coalition to tell them our needs and our ideas • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• it's awful • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• victoria great place, services tremendous, people treated with dignity, community generally mellow and safe • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• we need more than one solution - we are individuals. We are in an emergency • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• homes! • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• fair treatment for everyone • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• housing not enough low-cost; too many condos; OP needs to be open 24/7; get service clubs involved • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• think about the working poor - min wage doesn't cut it • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• services for seniors with disabilities; would like support from community living • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• it costs $60,000 to keep a guy in jail • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• nurse/doc on site at coolaid and OP • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• needs to be some damn affordable housing. More dental services, better income assistance.
Look at Dignity Village in Portland • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• a place to call home • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• be more approachable, provide info when asked • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• homelessness is 24/7 - need something to do • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• put money toward fixing old buildings to make shelters and housing • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• why coalition set up behind security guard? Disconnected from real people • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• bias toward people who homeless by those in health care system • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• housing! • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• social services - $3-5 a day for food! • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• cheaper, less restrictive hsing • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• concerned about young women on street, esp ones not on drugs. Seeing mothers with kids • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• more and better housing • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• less talk, more action • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• Asked Jody to attend ACE committee • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• rents too high; not always safe for women • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• interview clothes, better food • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• vic is greatest place in canada for homeless people - feels like "home" • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• we welcome opportunity to speak on our own behalf. That doesn't happen very often. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• less survey, more action. Open OP 7 days week • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •








Services that participants want but can’t find:

• help finding housing, more dog friendly spaces, legal help for youth
• welfare accessibility
• income assistance
• job
• job
• housing help
• housing
• ID, credit, child support for 2 yr old
• a roof over my head!
• help with house search
• need more money
• free schooling for people with serious brain disorders; awareness of how to support amphetamine addicts; support groups for women who have lost their children
• legal help
• non-prejudiced doctor. Someone who will help regardless of my condition. Need more support with crystal meth
• more shelters
• supported housing
• More for pets on cold days
• tax service
• More programs for lifeskills
• welfare
• immed detox, more shelter, housing
• employment
• job finding service
• dental, ID
• nutritious food, more
• hard to get cognitive behaviour therapy
• places to grow food, nut trees esp
• need laundry and proper storage facilities
• housing
• help with getting job - new to vic
• need more laundry facilities/ drop-in on weekends
• home that allows pets, affordable
• i have celiac disease and need a meal program
• housing
• men's transition house
• help with ID, clothing in plus size
• clothing
• adopt an addict' or sponsorship like that in AA
• adequate housing
• alarm for morning; temporary housing; help from welfare for rent deposit for Traveller's Inn
• free reading/education, job (GT not helpful)
• medical, more money for rent/food
• has love in her life
• welfare would not give rent deposit for Traveller's
• services i don't know I need
• unite homeless to protest Olympics on stolen native land
• existing services don't help working poor due to schedule conflicts (e.g. Night work and shelter access); concerned with some staff suitability to be in service position
• housing, banned from sobering centre, no help if meth
• job counselling,
• regular doc, psychiatry
• safe shelters
• my kid back and my own place!
• housing, physio, guys' clothing, shoes
• Cheap rent
• dental, ID
• legal help
• housing is slow; waiting a year
• bus pass
• place to stay clean
• housing
• money
• dental- need partial plate and can't get it funded
• more support for detox
• ID replacement, clothes
• training and work
• clean available housing; ability to make money without affecting my IA
• full disability; someone to talk to
• better home
• housing bus pass/ticket
• housing - very hard to find a cheap place to live
• elevator, supplements, attention for med needs
• bus tickets, extended hrs at OP, phone, 24hr crisis service
• dental work
• housing, literacy support
• forced to have roommates because of rent cost; wait list for bc housing 2 years, go every month
• bus tkts
• housing, help for disabled
• bc housing waitlist for families
• counselling, sleeping bags/tents
• 24-hr drop-in centre
• subsidized housing
• none
• help with loneliness
• more Connect days
• housing
• more money to live on; motel is expensive
• a home
• help with ID
• doc, housing, food
• access to acupuncture
• toilets, low-cost housing
• foot care, better food bank system, better telephone system for people who can't afford it, cable too
• food needs be more sufficient
• lockers
• more access to mental health system
• help with housing expenses
• dentist, eye doctor, hearing aids
• rent supplements, nice food
• Counselling; supportive and compassionate shelter staff
• health care, help with vaccinations
• FB - more food for singles; drug and alcohol centre, NOT jail
• work
• subsidized housing
• handicapped with cerebral palsy; would like to earn a living
• housing that allows pets
• companionship
• housing
• homecare
• my own place
• access to housing - services inadequate
• took 1 yr to find family doc. Need glasses
• access to phone; laundry; place for her dog
• most services geared to those with multiple probs - nothing for those who aren't addicted
• housing
• more health services - have memory deficit due to heroin OD
• safe housing
• Housing! Hard to sleep in shelters with things going on - exhausting
• cheap affordable housing
• food bank rations inadequate, shelters not safe, medication expenses should be covered
• clothes for larger women
• shuffled around in housing until you don't know which end is up
• replacement of ID, sleeping bags, tents
• housing, injection site
• find temporary job, problem due to criminal record
• housing
• help finding housing; optical help (legally blind)
• medical pot
• medical marijuana
• subsidized housing
• a home, love
• medical marijuana
• a partner and companion
• larger clothes
• gay help
• job
• housing
• need place for homeless working person
• system not able to deal with the volume of people needing help
• income tax
• subsidized housing
• services on weekends, holidays, 24/7
• more rehab, more shelters, more family counselling
• doc
• transportation an issue
• fill forms
• resume help; hotel manager at rental unit
• finding a doc to get referral to eye specialist
• money
• counselling
• bipolar support
• meditation centre
• nothing on weekends
• help with writing letters, etc. have problems putting words together but can use computer
• office for CPP, more quiet to meditate
• need apartment, better access to US consul (he's american), more dental work, housing for pets
• part-time work
• assistance to find affordable housing when you don't fit current criteria for help
• $ for SA dinners, housing
• need vitamins, brace for separated shoulder, legal services
• money
• more help with lifeskills, addiction, etc
• want change to OP rules around people coming to room, smoking/drinking
• food costs
• vision
• a place to live, money
• exercise to get out
• permanent home
• I get $60/mo - that's not enough to get by
• a good lawyer

Federal government fumbles again. And again. And again...

Never mind the federal inquiry into B.C.’s vanishing sockeye salmon that will soon be underway. How about an inquiry into the federal government itself?
I’m sure the feds must be good at something. But they’re routinely quite hopeless, in ways that would almost be funny if it weren’t for the harm being done to Canadians and the country.
How have they hurt us? Let me count the ways:
H1N1 - If this had really been “the big one,” we’d have been as hooped as a New Orleans hurricane victim waiting for rescue after Katrina. As luck would have it, we’ve been allowed to test our national pandemic strategy with a virus that wasn’t as terrifying as expected, but picture the shape we’d be in right now had the new flu strain remained as lethal as it was in its early days in Mexico.
Canada has a 550-page pandemic preparedness plan, developed by the Public Health Agency four years ago after a botched national response to the SARS crisis. But the Canadian Medical Association Journal sounded the alarm in September that the plan was neither workable nor in keeping with best medical practices when it came to H1N1.
For starters, the plan around H1N1 was to have Canada’s single flu vaccine supplier produce three different flu vaccines at the same time, even though the Quebec plant has just one production line. No deep thinking required to see the problem that was bound to create.
The plant was already busy producing seasonal flu vaccine by the time the H1N1 vaccine was developed this fall. So that delayed production of the H1N1 vaccine - to the point that two waves of the flu had already swept through most Canadian communities by the time vaccinations were underway.
Then the plant had to switch course again when the government ordered 1.8 million doses of “non-adjuvenated” H1N1 vaccine for pregnant women, having grown nervous of the shark oil derivatives added to the vaccine. That delayed production of the regular H1N1 vaccine a second time.
Nor did the plan take into account human behaviour in times of crisis. The honour system breaks down quickly when people believe their lives are under threat, and who can blame them for thinking that after seven months of hysterical and confusing media coverage? There’s always a way to jump the queue if you work the angles, which is why junior hockey teams and wealthy Toronto hospital donors have ended up vaccinated while high-risk populations are still lining up.
Why did we choose a single vaccine supplier? The Chretien Liberals signed that exclusive deal back in 2001 with Quebec’s Shire BioChem, bought by GlaxoKlineSmith in 2005. Coincidentally, Shire BioChem gave a $56,000 donation to the Liberal Party that year.
The gun registry - This sad tale started in 1995 with the passing of a new Firearms Act. The plan required all gun owners to register their weapons and was sold to Canadians on the basis of it costing taxpayers just $2 million a year. Fourteen lost years and some $2 billion later, parliament voted this week to scrap the registry for all guns other than handguns.
The data on seven million registered “long guns” collected over the years will be thrown away. More than $21 million in registration fees has already been returned to Canadian long-gun owners, with more to come. Your tax dollars at work.
Employment Insurance - Remember when Canadians who were unemployed could actually get benefits to help them through a dry spell?
Back in 1990, 80 per cent of unemployed Canadians qualified for such benefits. These days, only 38 per cent do. That’s because the federal government has spent well over a decade tightening up policies, to the point that most out-of-work Canadians no longer qualify.
The denial of benefits has resulted in significant annual surpluses accruing to the federal government for more than 14 years now, even while the number of Canadians receiving benefits has plummeted by more than 56 per cent.
Fisheries - The latest concern is a Fraser River sockeye salmon return this fall that was 93 per cent smaller than what the Department of Fisheries and Oceans had forecast. The federal government has now launched an inquiry, which is what we do in Canada when we want to douse the flames on a hot issue.
But that’s just the latest addition to a long list of alarming examples of fisheries mismanagement in B.C. Federal government policies have decimated fish stocks, sandbagged monitoring and enhancement, and wiped out a thriving community-based industry in order to give the resource away to a handful of wealthy men. It’s unforgiveable.
I could go on. The sponsorship scandal. The e-health scandal. The isotope fiasco. The fumbling bird flu response. The deeply flawed immigration system.
George Bernard Shaw once described democracy as “a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.” Frightening to think what that says about us.

If you want to fight back, make it effective

I find myself thinking about protest a lot these days, mostly because of the ill-considered social cuts going on in B.C. right now.
It’s really the only form of democratic action we have in between elections, and a proven tool. When the public “blowback” is intense enough, as Housing Minister Rich Coleman might say, governments tend to change their minds.
But last week’s Olympic torch dustup reminds us that there’s protest, and then there’s effective protest. Those of us who want real change had best keep that in mind.
I mean no disrespect to those who protested the torch relay last Friday. The majority were there for all the right reasons. I certainly share their pain over a $6 billion party being thrown next February even while growing numbers of vulnerable British Columbians lose the programs and services that help them cope.
Still, little is gained when the only thing your protest accomplishes is to frustrate and sadden the people who didn’t get to carry the torch because you blocked the route. The media stories over whether it was protesters or undercover police who threw marbles under the police horses’ hooves didn’t help. Protest is a powerful tool, but less so when it alienates potential supporters.
The environmental movement has had remarkable success with protest. The Clayoquot protests of the early 1990s stand as great case studies of effective action for anyone wondering how it’s done.
The point of conflict at that time was a provincial plan to log the old-growth forests of Clayoquot Sound, on the Island’s west coast. We’d been logging coastal forests flat in B.C. for decades by that point, but a new environmental consciousness had started us questioning the prevailing wisdom that every B.C. tree was there for us to log.
The line in the sand turned out to be Clayoquot Sound. One summer day in 1993, almost 800 average British Columbians turned up on a logging road in the middle of nowhere, and stood down the logging trucks.
They got arrested by the dozens and went to jail - regular people, looking earnest in their Goretex jackets and Tilley hats as police led them away. Average folks, including grandmas and office-worker types, went to jail for the love of a forest that a lot of them probably hadn’t even heard of a year or two earlier.
And wouldn’t you know it, B.C. forest policy started to change. It wasn’t all love and flowers from that point on or anything like that, but the Clayoquot protests did indeed change the course of B.C. history.
So I flash back to Clayoquot whenever I need a reminder about how you go about getting the government’s complete attention.
First - and this is a big one - the Clayoquot protest had timing. British Columbians didn’t have much of an interest in environmental issues until the late 1980s, but we’d come a long way by the time Clayoquot was an issue. We knew enough to have an informed opinion on the subject, and to resist government’s usual attempts to pat us on the head while doing whatever it felt like doing.
Lesson No. 1, then: Make sure there’s sufficient public awareness out there of what you’re protesting about. Government responds only when they sense a major groundswell of opposition to their plans. If your issue isn’t yet well-known enough to elicit that groundswell (parents of autistic children losing services, take note), then doing something about that is your first task.
The Clayoquot protest also had a charismatic leader in Tseporah Berman and other home-grown environmentalists, and celebrity support from the likes of the late Robert Kennedy Jr. It had smooth-talking, well-informed spokespeople to disseminate its messages, but also slightly crazy protesters on the front line doing dangerous things like chaining themselves to logging trucks - guaranteed to draw the news crews.
It also had economic power, which perhaps more than anything explains why social protest has not been able to get off the ground in B.C. despite more than 10 years of ruinous policy. When the logging trucks didn’t roll, somebody somewhere didn’t get paid. That made all the difference to getting government’s attention.
We who toil for causes where the economic impact isn’t as instantly apparent need to figure that one out. History tells us that economic disruption matters much more than “heart” in changing the course of social policy. Protest works when it hits government and the private sector in the pocketbook.
As for last week’s Olympic torch protest, it will be a brief blip in history that most people will remember as a dispute over marbles. Whatever your issue might be, learn from Clayoquot and do it right.

Excuse me, doc - any advice for the uncertain?

What are we to take from the fact that a majority of adult Canadians don’t want to be immunized against the H1N1 flu?
I know how they feel. I’m still on the fence myself about whether to get the shot. Being immunized definitely appears to be the logical, civic-minded choice, but there’s this part of me that’s just really hesitant about getting a flu shot.
And 51 per cent of the Canadians apparently feel the same way.
Asked in an on-line poll this month about whether they’d be getting vaccinated against H1N1, more than half said no. That’s up significantly from July, when only 38 per cent were saying no.
That fact must be a great disappointment to the public-health officials working hard on the H1N1 front. People were alarmed as all get-out when the new strain of influenza first took hold in Mexico, and the task back then looked like it was going to be about keeping a worried public calm until a vaccine could be developed.
Instead we’ve ended up here, with immunization now available but fewer Canadians actually wanting it. That’s a fascinating turn of events.
What it speaks to more than anything is that the public no longer knows who to trust about such things. That’s especially true when it comes to flu shots.
We were terrified of H1N1 when it first started wreaking havoc in Mexico. I followed each new development with great interest as the virus took hold in the spring, and had long conversations with my own adult children in hopes of getting them thinking about vaccination.
But then H1N1 arrived in our own home towns. And in most cases it looked a lot like any other seasonal flu, except with more people getting it.
Public health experts continued to emphasize that H1N1 had the potential to be a much more serious type of flu. People do die from it - 87 so far in Canada. But it seems that the more H1N1 has taken hold in Canada, the more our scepticism has grown about getting immunized.
Canadians are sceptical of flu shots to begin with - less than a third of us get the seasonal shot.
The peculiar thing is that we’re generally pretty happy to get immunized. I got seven immunizations for a trip to Ghana a decade ago, and didn’t second-guess any of them. Most Canadians are quite willing to be immunized against major illnesses and to get their children immunized as well, so it’s not like vaccination is a foreign concept.
Ah, but the flu shot - for some reason, that’s a whole different thing. North Americans overall just haven’t taken to the flu shot, despite years of admonitions from public health officials about the importance of doing so.
Is it because you need a shot every year? Or because you’ve had the flu many times and it hasn’t killed you yet? Is it about the horror stories of vaccinations gone wrong that emerge just often enough to confirm your reluctance, or maybe a secret suspicion that it’s good for your immune system to have to fight off illness on its own once in a while?
I admit to a little of all of those in my own feelings about getting a flu shot. And I know it’s all about having an emotional reaction to the issue rather than a logical one. I hate being sick with the flu and I’m asthmatic to boot, so there’s no sensible reason for me to resist inoculation.
In the case of H1N1, experiences in my own family this past month should have also pushed me toward immunization if logic had anything to do with it. My brother’s wife is still recovering in hospital after a terrible bout of H1N1 that left her incapacitated and on a ventilator in the intensive care unit for almost a week.
But there’s something that I just can’t get my head around when it comes to flu shots. I wish I understood my resistance better, because I like to think I make good choices when it comes to my health. Public health officials might want to try to understand the resistance of people like me as well, because their messages clearly aren’t having the desired effect if the majority of Canadians are saying no to a flu shot.
Please take my musings on this subject as nothing more than that. I offer no advice on whether to get an H1N1 shot. I’m just saying that rightly or wrongly, many of us need more convincing.

It's community involvement that sets Project Connect apart

For the past two years, I’ve had the honour of organizing the Project Connect service fair for the street community, put on by the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness.
This year, we saw at least 700 people through the door for the event at Our Place drop-in last Wednesday. They came for help: a new birth certificate, care for their broken and battered feet, a haircut, vet care, a backpack full of useful stuff They also came for food, eating a whopping 2,100 hamburgers and 1,000 hot dogs by day’s end.
I don’t know whether to be delighted or heartsick that the number of people at the event was up by more than 200 this year, or that we served twice as many burgers and dogs. Sure, it’s great to draw a crowd, but I dream of the day when an event for people living in profound poverty fails to attract anybody.
If you’ve done any event-planning, you’ll know it’s a crazy-making activity with a million details to attend to. But when it all comes together, it’s a whole lot of fun, especially when the event is Project Connect. What sets it apart is that it really is a community-wide effort - one that depends on hundreds of people in our region stepping up to make a difference.
Consider, for instance, what it took to be able to hand out 700 backpacks last week.
First, it took the efforts of leadership students at seven local secondary schools to help us hustle up some of those packs - 250 all told. But we needed many more than that, and couldn’t have done it without a generous cash donation from a local businessman and a sweet deal on back-to-school packs offered to us by Wal-Mart and Real Canadian Superstore.
Then we needed things to put in those packs. We wanted to put a dozen or so items in each pack: a new pair of socks, gloves, toque, scarf, deodorant, toothbrush and toothpaste, and other essentials. But that meant collecting almost 9,000 individual items.
For that, we turned to the community. And people really came through.
The Church of the Nazarene bought us 500 pair of men’s gloves. Lambrick Park Church’s “The Place” congregation rustled up 400 toques and 200 scarves. St. Philip’s Anglican Church bought 400 emergency blankets. UM Marketing donated 200 deodorants, 800 razors, and 600 packages of tampons. Save On Foods, Safeway, Thrifty Foods, Lifestyle Market and Costco loaded us up with food.
Workplace donation drives at Telus, Queen Alexandra Society, Victoria Foundation, the Ministry of Housing and Social Development, Royal Bank Oak Bay and Shaw Cable brought us box after box of the kinds of things we needed. So did you - for four days straight in late September and again in early October, members of the public poured into Our Place with armloads of donations for Project Connect.
That all of the above happened was largely due to the efforts of five amazing volunteers I’d gathered around me to help organize the event. My deepest thanks to Gloria Hoeppner, Ruth Simkin, Deb Nilsen, Jill Martin-Bates and Willie Waddell - women who I’ve come to count on whenever the occasion calls for a crack team of volunteers.
The packs wouldn’t have been packed without them. Some 10,000 donated items would have gone unsorted. These women’s vehicles, husbands, living rooms, charge cards, friends and neighbours were all conscripted to the cause, as were mine. But hey, we got things done.
As for Our Place, which hosted Project Connect this year - well, I can’t say enough good things about those guys. Everybody on staff was unfailingly helpful and patient with us. I don’t know where we would have stored our overflowing bounty of pack items, let alone physically done the packing, were it not for Our Place making room for us every step of the way.
What was particularly nice was that anytime someone from our group arrived at the drop-in with the latest load of big heavy things needing to be carried in, at least four or five of the men who come to Our Place would immediately step forward with offers to help. Is there another place in the city where you can count on such gentlemanly behaviour?
And this long list was just what it took to get the packs together. Multiply the effort tenfold for all the volunteers who turned out that day, all the service providers who were there, all the work Gord Fry and the Capital Lions Club put in to help us feed such a big crowd, all the media support for getting the word out.
It was a remarkable community achievement. Thank you.