Conversations That Matter

Dec 30, 2022 Ep 432 - A Wicked Problem Guest: Douglas Todd   In his book, “White Angel,”  John MacLachlan Gray describes the Vancouver of the 1920s as “a dirty, smelly, corrupt hellhole.” Anyone who passes through the Downtown Eastside of the city today might wonder if he was referring to 2020 – an unfortunate consideration because, in 2008, then-mayor Gregor Roberstson promised to end homelessness.   When Robertson left office, the Vancouver Sun reported that “tent-city organizers said that they ‘savour Gregor’s resignation and the humiliating end of Vision Vancouver.” When he left office, there were 2,181 homeless people in Vancouver. Today, it is difficult to know the exact number because for the second year in a row, the City of Vancouver cancelled its homeless count.  No matter the number, the situation is worse.   As Douglas Todd, a senior Vancouver Sun journalist, wrote in a recent opinion piece, “It’s impossible to find someone who doesn’t feel compassion for the residents of Vancouver’s Downtown East