|
 Vandalism
A Way of
Life
FTLComm - la Ronge
May 19, 2001
For anyone living in Northern Saskatchewan seeing property destroyed or damaged is
an everyday occurrence, in fact it is almost expected. Northern Lights School Division
has either grates or bars on the windows of all of its schools, as well as intruder
alarms and some school's even video surveillance camera. This is not a matter of
choice but of need to safe guard as best as possible the property maintained by the
school division. In Cumberland House teacher's houses are a common target for break-ins
but these break-ins though they often involve theft usually are featured by incredible
damage and destruction. Personal property is destroyed, in several cases light switches
smashed and the stuffed with human excrement. The destruction of property in these
communities is a fact of everyday life.
Of course you don't have to live in Northern Saskatchewan to witness or be a victim
of this destruction as Regina and Saskatoon have the highest property crime rates
in Canada and perhaps in all of North America. The common denominator is poverty
Imagine what it must be like to know that no matter what you do you will remain poor,
you will never have the things you see others have and your children and likely their
children as well can expect no better. This frustration, perhaps blind anger leads
to social depression and acts of property terrorism. The reaction by the society
at large is also frustration because few people can accept the fact that as a society
the blame and guilt for this overwhelming poverty rest with ourselves.
Just think about the last provincial or federal election, did you vote or discuss
with a candidate or his or her representative resolving poverty or were you siding
with "get tough on crime?" When you think about it and mention "organised
crime" in the context of Saskatoon are you thinking about the city police force?
The reality is that we as individuals in a democratic society must begin to accept
our responsibility, we have placed in office people who reflect our views and our
values and they have justifiable carried out our wishes. More Saskatchewan people
are in jail per/capita than anywhere in North America. We as a society are spending
ridiculously high amounts of money on police, courts and the keeping of people in
jail. Yet we seem to be doing absolutely nothing about the prime cause of the dissatisfaction.
Oppressive everlasting poverty and dependence on social assistance that is inadequate
to live on.
Roy Romanow cast only two votes in the past two elections the same as you, though
his government oversaw the rise of poverty and devaluing of Saskatchewan living standards
he was acting on your behalf, doing what you wanted, he balanced the books and you
are paying the price.
The scratches on this car will cost you nearly a thousand dollars to repair, that
money will come out of your insurance premiums. If the person who did it gets caught,
you will pay for the police work to catch him/her, then the cost of prosecution and
when its all over her or she will be just as bitter, just as hopeless and just as
likely to do this sort of thing again.
If you are wondering what we should do, here are some suggestions:
- Establish a task force with a good sized budget to actively establish projects
that will employ and provide hopeless people with some meaningful activity.
- Establish a provincial employment project that actively works with employers,
prospective employees with money for training and supplementing wages.
- Double the minimum wage and ban part-time work.
- Increase welfare to a level that a person can live on it and at the same time
provide upgrading and training opportunities.
- Increase public housing and launch major cultural awareness programmes to increase
self esteem and self awareness that would uplift the oppressed.
|
