Homelessness on the TTC (catch all)

[cryogen]

Do you think homeless people should be helped to keep them off the street or do you think they should be moved so tourists don't see them?

Ottawa has been this way for as long as the fifteen years I've been going there.

it's pretty simple, mental asylums, I don't understand why it's so controvercial.

 

[Bordercollie]

it's pretty simple, mental asylums, I don't understand why it's so controvercial.

But to permanently house people? or put them on a path to becoming a functional human (if possible)? Because addiction is the other part of the issue and closing those safe injection sites wont make the situation better.

 

[APTA-2048]

it's pretty simple, mental asylums, I don't understand why it's so controvercial.

Because it isn’t that “simple”. Not to mention the lack of will to properly and humanely run long term care facilities for the seriously mentally ill is why most were closed in the first place. That hasn’t changed. The prevailing attitude of people here is still very much “out of sight, out of mind”.

 

[urbanclient]

lack of will to properly and humanely run long term care facilities for the seriously mentally ill is why most were closed in the first place.

There is more will now, society is a lot more progressive. We won't tolerate orderlies or doctors abusing patients. And short term housing and mandatory treatment for addicts in 'asylums' or let's call them 'in-patient treatment facilities' seems to work well enough in other countries. We're talking on the order of weeks and months, not years and decades. Mental health is another thing, but I suspect standalone mental health issues without any comorbid addiction is less of a problem than addiction. To paraphrase a long-time contributor, it's better than letting them rot on the streets.

The data on safe injection sites are mixed as well, we don't want to be in a position where we encourage drug use, but we don't want drug users getting blood borne infections either.

 

[McGillicuddy]

We tried "mental asylums". They were inhumane disasters which often made their inmates worse, and there's no reason think they'll be any better a second time around.

 

[urbanclient]

We tried "mental asylums". They were inhumane disasters which often made their inmates worse, and there's no reason think they'll be any better a second time around.

Jurisdictions in developed countries with involuntary treatment that is used in practice without requiring a court ruling beforehand (addiction without other mental health issues):

Norway, Finland, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Saskatchewan, and more.

The involuntary treatment with court ruling list is longer. The involuntary confinement for mental health list is even longer.

 

[Steve X]

I've no particularly recollection of it when I lived near Byward Market in the 1980s - though I certainly saw homeless in Toronto tat that time (certainly not in the same numbers you do today).

I do agree that part of Ottawa is worse than Toronto in the recent decade or so. I'm sure Edmonton is having a hard time keeping them off the LRT too.

Those that are a nuisance to society should probably be locked away. Sleeping peacefully on a public bench is one thing. Always picking a fight with people while being pissed off all the time is another thing.

However there isn't any modern Canadian solution that won't be costly as rehabilitation programs are expensive while permanently housing them away could violate rights. We can't just exile them to a remote island like the old days. So nobody wants to do anything.