Dear Editor:
I just got back from walking my dogs in uptown New Westminster when I came across a homeless guy setting up his bed by Tim Hortons, and before I could ask him if he’s OK, he stands up and proceeds to urinate on the street in front of me. I tell him that it’s not a good idea, and he says that my dogs do it so why can’t he.
In a moment of frustration I blurt out that if he were my dog I would have him put down. This isn’t the first time I’ve run into this guy, a young blond guy that always carries his sleeping bag in a backpack. We know who he is and obviously he has issues. Sleeping outside in –4 degrees instead of going to a shelter tells me that he is incapable of making rational decisions, but no one will act.
The police, whom I’ve called, will maybe ask him to move along. I’m done.
My wife and I are moving. I love this city that I was born and raised in, but if the people that we’ve elected to govern it can’t or won’t do anything to address the situation, then I’ll pay my property taxes somewhere else.
Dan Riordan, New Westminster
