In your article Prolific offenders top cop priority (The NEWS, Sept. 21) you quote RCMP Staff Sgt. Pelletier mentioning his and the City of Parksville’s quick response to clear homeless camps in the city and how they are hiding further up on Despard Avenue.
All this does is push the problem into someone else’s backyard instead of dealing with the underlying issues — lack of affordable housing and treatment options.
Last week my neighbor was attacked and bitten by a pit bull, who was with what we believe was a homeless person off Despard Avenue.
We need to work within a partnership of the municipal, provincial and federal governments to form a concrete plan to collectively deal with this problem or it will only continue to get worse. There are no easy solutions but the only other option of doing nothing is unacceptable.
There have been enough studies and talk. Now we need action.
Duane Round
Parksville