TUESDAY MAY 3, 2016
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LASQUETI ARTIST
KWALIKUM GOLF STAR
Keeping an old art form alive in Qualicum Beach
Michelle Waters surprised everyone, including herself
A28
A36
LOCAL POLITICS
Homeless in Parksville
Different perspective on a hot issue AUREN RUVINSKY writer@pqbnews.com
While there has been controversy, Rob Brown says in his experience living on the streets in Parksville, “the people are awesome.” “When I first got here I had a hard time getting used to everybody saying ‘hi, how are you’ and stuff on the street,” said the 29-year-old who came here for work from Grand Prairie, Alberta last summer. A city a bit smaller than Nanaimo, 150 kilometres northeast of Prince George, Brown said an ugly situation got a lot worse with the slowdown in the oil industry. “It’s just been getting worse and worse as the years go on, and lack of work is the biggest part of it,” he said. “All of a sudden they’re sending people home, they basically fired half the town, a lot of people are going to go crazy and do whatever they have to to get money.” According to Statistics Canada the Don’t judge a person until city now has the highest violent crime you’ve tried life in their rate in the country. shoes. It’s different for Friends in Qualicum Beach said everybody. they had work for him and bought him ROB BROWN a bus ticket, but the bus company lost his bag, including all his ID. The bag was never found, he was never compensated and the promised work didn’t pan out. He stayed with his friends for six weeks until the landlord threatened to kick them all out if he didn’t leave. So he ended up on the street in Parksville last fall. And while he found most people in the area surprisingly friendly and inviting, his bad luck continued. He’d managed to get a tent and sleeping bag from the Manna Ministries van when he first arrived, only to have it all stolen by the first person to show him a good secret camping spot. Brown did bits of work over the months when he could, washing dishes and working on a gold claim, but like most of the homeless people he knows in the area, he just wasn’t able to save up enough to actually change his situation. With a shoulder dislocating painfully several times a day, Brown was caught in a Catch-22, unable to get surgery, or even regular access to doctors until he had a permanent address, which he couldn’t do until he had work, which he couldn’t do without surgery for his shoulder. See MILD WEATHER, page A8
LAUREN COLLINS PHOTO
FIRE & ICE: Mike Richards carved a yellow submarine with a walrus on top at the annual Fire & Ice Street Festival on Saturday, April 30 in downtown Qualicum Beach. See more on page A5.
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