MidlandToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected]. Please include your daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). This letter is in response to story titled 'Homeless deserve compassion, 'emotions overshadow critical thinking': Gordon', published Feb. 16.
Thank you Mayor Gordon.
I couldn't agree more that blaming the 'Guesthouse Emergency Shelter and Community Hub' for current safety challenges in the downtown is hugely misdirected. That area of Midland looked like a post-apocalyptic wasteland well before the Guesthouse returned their shelter operations to 522 Elizabeth in summer 2022.
Midland merchants were so fortunate in 2020 that we had a pandemic shutdown precisely when they needed to rip apart the main street. I am quite sure many owners pulled in relief money related to the pandemic that they might not otherwise have hoped to receive.
Now with the infrastructure fixed, they need to finally wake up and recognize that their largest customer group is employed in a renowned area of specialized mental health care. As such, they need to learn that the boundaries of care extend well beyond a hospital's parking lot.
They should also expect that their downtown might always need to look different than Collingwood, Barrie and Orillia.
I would very seriously suggest the BIA rent a bus and go visit the Queen St. W. region around CAMH (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health) in Toronto.
They will encounter a wonderful thriving community! Messy yes, and they will see police engaged with some very unusual residents... but alive and joyful!
Bob Bruer
