Dear Editor
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Two hundred and fifty years ago Edmund Burke made this observation, and it continues to ring true. Evil occurs in this city and throughout the Metro Vancouver area every day, and the response of our elected leaders is to do nothing, to cry "constitutionalism" and demand that senior governments act in accordance with their constitutional requirements. This evil is homelessness and poverty, the continuing scourge of our time.
In the pained absence of governments in Victoria and Ottawa that wish to actually address these problems in a meaningful way, our municipal politicians have chosen to do nothing, and in doing so have allowed this evil to flourish. The time has long since passed to worry about issues of jurisdiction and of constitutional inaction. Municipal governments need to act. Not from duty or legal need, but from the simple desire to ensure that people's lives are safeguarded as much as possible. There's no imperative to act, beyond the need to make life better for the very least fortunate among us.
Anything that municipal governments can do to reduce the epidemic of homelessness in the area needs to be done. Standing by and waiting for someone else to address the issue is not acceptable and cannot be condoned any longer.
Trevor Ritchie, Burnaby
