@ISIDEWITHQuestionsHousing IssuesStarted 3yrs agoActive 1wk ago

Should homeless individuals, that have refused available shelter or housing, be allowed to sleep or encamp on public property?

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Answer Overview

Response rates from 9.2k Canada voters.

40%
Yes
60%
No
26%
Yes
58%
No
13%
Yes, and create more social programs to provide free food, clothing, and medicine
3%
No, and make it a criminal offense

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Other Popular Answers

Unique answers from Canada voters whose views went beyond the provided options.

 @9FY56SG from Ontario  answered…1yr1Y

No, we fund these welfare programs for their benefit and if they choose not to accept thats their problem

 @9WKCQFTfrom New Brunswick  answered…4wks4W

We need to call it what it is: MENTAL HEALTH BREAKDOWN. These people need psych wards. They need to be helped. They need to know that they are wanted, loved, cared for. Not societies throw always.

 @9VZT3KKfrom British Columbia  answered…1mo1MO

No, but we should assess the current shelters and housing to see why they may be refusing to use them.

 @9VJLT3Zfrom Alberta  answered…2mos2MO

Homeless shelters need drastic expansion and improvement, and hostile architecture should be banned.

 @9VF2RTRfrom British Columbia  answered…2mos2MO

Don’t want them on my private place. I have had enough of feeling unsafe in my community and home. Not fair as a tax paying citizen that I have no rights anymore for my safety

 @9VCMPDGfrom British Columbia  answered…2mos2MO

No, however creating alternative living solutions or proper areas outside of the “main areas” of denser populations/towns.

 @9ZHZL24from Ontario  answered…1wk1W

I don't think that individuals should be allowed to sleep or encamp on public property, however, I think the regulations and rules of shelter or housing needs to be reevaluated. People often do not want to leave their pets, their drugs if they are addicts, and family members behind (say they are women who can go into a female residential service but cannot bring their partners). Some individuals may be working and cannot attend the shelter at the provided time.

 @9T64K8Rfrom Ontario  answered…3mos3MO

Yes, have effective social programs to provide cheap food, clothing, and medicine. But make it so that they adapt to their new housing.

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…1mo1MO

Drug Crisis Prompts Portland to Reboot City Government

In a sign of either hope or desperation, Portland voters decided to throw out their entire government structure and replace it with a weaker mayor, expanded City Council and ranked choice voting.A major driving factor was the passage of “Measure 110” decriminalizing all drugs in 2020, which was backed by 74 percent of Multnomah County’s residents. Voters couldn’t — or at least didn’t — anticipate how this policy change would reshape a city already strapped for money, dealing with a public health crisis and confronting rising rates of homelessness and fentanyl abuse.Drug use shot up, homelessness worsened and taxpayers fled.“Political rhetoric in 2020-2021 in the City of Portland was incredibly ideologically driven,” Gonzalez said, explaining that there was a “default conversation” on topics like homelessness or police reform that shut down an exchange of ideas.The City Council race, meanwhile, is mayhem. Portland is switching from four at-large seats to twelve seats representing four districts. The dozens of candidates include Black Lives Matter leaders, nonprofit advocates, business owners and police officers.There are 19 people running for mayor and 98 people seeking seats on the City Council. They’re nearly all campaigning on left-of-center platforms — this is Portland.Pandemic closures, protests, elevated crime rates and rising homelessness buffeted many liberal cities in recent years, including San Francisco and Minneapolis. But policy choices made by the city and state aggravated their impact in Portland.The ramifications are measurable: Nearly 12,000 people moved out of Multnomah County between 2020 and 2023, per data from Portland State University. The exodus between 2020 and 2021 alone took nearly $1.1 billion in taxable income out of the city, according to data analyzed by the Economic Innovation Group. Portland’s once bustling downtown is nearly empty, and a negative national reputation clouds its economic future.Drug decriminalization and the city’s open camping rules compounded the feeling of insecurity. Homeless encampments spread through empty public spaces and filled sidewalks during the lockdown, and some became epicenters for the fentanyl trade. Even Portlanders who voted for decriminalization and believe in a compassionate approach to homelessness didn’t feel as safe in their own neighborhoods.

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