Homelessness, Published in the National Post, 21 August 2004

re: Homeless chutzpah

I'm reassured more than I'm offended that squatters want a portable toilet and garbage pick-up. Cleanliness, after all, is next to Godliness. Aside from the great dig at Jack Layton, however, polemic remarks like "there's no shortage of social workers waiting to spring into action", and "stinky blankets" suggest a somewhat puerile attitude.

Moreover, the whole piece suggests an unfortunately facile understanding of the state of social services in Ontario, not to mention the causes of homelessness. Blaming the victim is certainly easy, but it gives conservatives who are legitimately concerned about fighting poverty a bad name.