Clearing garbage.

Mentions of "removing garbage" and "clearing garbage" in the May 18, 2024, Times Colonist article, "'Angst and anxiety' as tenters drift back to Pandora a day after massive sweep," are clearly intended to paint the victims of this latest attack as deserving of having their flimsy shelters and meager belongings stolen because their activities create garbage.

Every multi-dwelling installation save the encampments to which low-functioning individuals are condemned is equipped with at least one large garbage bin that a huge garbage truck empties at least once a week.

Real estate holders refuse to part with one square millimeter of their precious hoards of ground to construct tiny villages with proper social, medical, and psychological supports to serve these desperate demographics – let alone pay to train adequate personnel to staff them – it being far less expensive to demonize homeless people for generating garbage like everybody else does and brutalize them for it.

Homeless alcoholics who voluntarily undergo detox and opiate addicts who manage to access treatment might as well not bother in the absence of supportive environments into which to be released.

Here are some numbers for you:

According to Statistics Canada, the operating profit margin that "Lessors of residential buildings and dwellings (except social housing projects)" enjoy has increased steadily from 41.3% in 2012 ($2.2 billion) to 47.2% ($4.6 billion) in 2022 over the time span available for this particular data point.

The operating profit margin for "Food services and drinking places" (restaurants) by comparison, averaged 4.4% during the same period, more than ten times less.

Almost one in five dollars spent in BC are spent on rent.

Don't tell me the FIRE (Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate) sector cannot afford to house and provide supportive environments for alcoholics, opiate addicts, and mentally ill individuals thrown out on the street to live like stray dogs, particularly as only 50 per cent of capital gains below $250,000 are taxed and even the Trudeau government, realizing the bad look of not taxing 100% of capital gains, recently raised the inclusion rate above $250,000 to 66.7 per cent (still far less than the 100% of workers' income subject to being taxed).

Homelessness is a stain on the capitalist class of this country that no amount of "clearing garbage" can remove.