Simmonds twisting truth on homeless issue
I was interested in your article on the proposed extreme weather shelter on Cairnsmore Street, particularly the comments by Duncan United Church Minister Keith Simmonds, who claims there was much misinformation being spread by the Cairnsmore Street residents.
In fact there was no misinformation being spread by the Cairnsmore Street residents. Every resident that spoke at the city council meeting expressed their concerns in an honest, respectful manner and Duncan United Church Minister Keith Simmonds is simply twisting the truth.
Keith Simmonds also fails to mention there is a $13 million shelter facility called Warmland that is available to the homeless year round.
This petty sniping by United Church Minister Keith Simmonds is not productive and doesn’t advance the conversation in any way, unfortunately, he prefers to lash out at the Cairnsmore Street residents as he did with the Campbell Street residents last year.
The real question in many peoples minds is, while other churches on Vancouver Island and in B.C. offer space for the homeless during the winter months, the United Church in Duncan does not.
According to United Church Minister Keith Simmonds and those he recruited to speak at the city council meeting, these types of cold weather shelters for the homeless are completely problem free and pose no risk to children, seniors, families or neighborhoods.
Therefore, I can’t understand why United Church Minister Keith Simmonds won’t provide a small amount of space at his church, for those in need during the cold winter months. The United Church is a fairly large operation with a basement, a hall and cooking facilities. The central location is perfect and the CWAVS would supply all of the staffing, supplies and security.
Surely the minor inconvenience the United Church would experience, is nothing compared to the benefit to those less fortunate.
Mark Williams
Duncan
