The Shame of a Nation

Drugs, Crime and Nature

I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Except I don’t.

We’re surrounded by beautiful lakes and gorgeous landscapes. But I live in the West End of town. It’s colloquially called Jamestown. It was once the proud centre of Italian Canadian life, with quaint shops, a close-knit community. Decent people living decent lives.

Not anymore. Now, it’s all drugs and crime. The meth epidemic has hit us hard! And so has NIMBY.

There have been at least 5 murders since I moved here in 2020. They’re all drug-related, I get that, but dude! I live here.

Do you know who else lives here? Decent people. Nurses that tended your wounds. Pharmacists that filled your prescription. The guy that sold you the lumber and the lock for your precious gate, yeah, he lives here. But you mayor Christian Provenszo, you don’t care.

Remember the meeting we had last August? Remember how you placated me and tried to pacify me as a fellow member of the legal profession? Remember how you sat, stone-faced as community members sobbed actual tears because the community they knew, the community they were raised in and where they raised their children in was gone.

Remember that?

No. You don’t. You played the game. You and your little minion Luke Dufour. All the right words, none of the deeds. Keep it out of my backyard. I don’t want those meth people here.

Yeah, well they are here. They’re everywhere. Where’s the help? Nowhere. There’s talk. There are alleged treatment centres. Bullshit. There’s no help. I walk by people every day. Literally Every. Single. Day. Fucked up, in my building in the stairwell, on the street, perched on an electric thingy.

You know this. You don’t care. As long as it doesn’t affect you.

But that’s the thing, it’s coming for you. You don’t seem to know it, but it is. Your kids are vulnerable.

It’s not just us dirty west enders. Because we’re not. We’re good, decent people, people with jobs people that want to live and raise our families safely. You ignored us. You tried to humour us. You pretended to care when you didn’t. And now, I call you out.

I call you out for all of us. I call you out for all the kids who can’t play outside. I call you out for all of us that can’t take our dogs for walks, I call you out Mayor Christian Provenzo and counsellor Luke Dufour. Where’s the help? Where all the initiatives? Oh, the park? Yeah, thanks, please do spend $80K on a playground that’ll be taken over by druggies. Smart spend of municipal dollars.

You know what you could do with that money? Here’s an idea, all those empty storefronts in the Jamestown Mall area, rent one. I bet they’re going cheap. Open a community policing office. Recruit some auxiliary members from the community. Remember, we had this conversation?

Do you know who doesn’t hang around when the cops are nearby? Bad Guys. Yeah, they don’t seem to like the heat. They're funny like that. One small thing.

I’m here to stand up to you. I’m here to say no. I’m here to call you out. You don’t give a flying fuck about the west end. I know who you are and what you are. NIMBY pays your bills.

It doesn’t pay mine. And I might be on the way out of this little burg, but I’ll name and shame you until the end of time because there are good people here. Decent people who don’t deserve to be terrorised in their own homes. Decent people who deserve to walk their dogs and live their lives. I’m almost 51 fucking years old. I can’t take my dog for a shit without my husband coming with me.

What hope do our kids have? You think you’re protecting your precious neighbourhoods. You’re not. These kids, the ones over here, that get on drugs because you stand by and do nothing, will sell your kids dope. The robberies that happen here, they’ll move into your area when all the good stuff’s gone from here.

Shame on you Christain Provenza and shame on you Luke Dufour for lying to my face. Shame on you for turning your back on an entire community. We were ready to invest here. We were ready to make our lives here. My husband is an internationally-known artist who wanted to make our life here. He wanted to paint here and have a gallery here. I wanted to live here. To write here. Now, not so much.

I’m tired. I’m tired of being scared. I’m tired of stepping on needles. And I’m tired of your false promises and lies. I’m tired of you saying one thing to our faces and doing another. I’m tired of your shortsighted crap.

Remember the W5 documentary, Steeltown Down? back in 2018? Remember that? It’s way worse now. You did nothing. NOTHING! Now it’s not just fentanyl, it’s that and meth and whatever else. I can’t walk out my front door without seeing it.

What do you expect us to do? Well, we tried to work with you. We tried to work within the system. We begged for help. We offered sensible solutions. We’ll continue to offer sensible solutions, but we’re tired. TIRED. We’re scared. and we’re fed up. We’re tired of living in a warzone. We’re tired of empty promises. Some may be afraid to call you out. Not me. I don’t care. You don’t scare me and you can’t hurt me. The truth will never hurt me and I’m here to expose the truth.