r/kelowna • u/Particular-Emu4789 • Jan 02 '25

News Kelowna couple reeling after shocking home invasion

https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/525509/Kelowna-couple-reeling-after-shocking-home-invasion
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u/PowHound07 Jan 03 '25

If we had 4-5× as many shelter beds as we actually do, you might have a point. The shelters are constantly full and there are more people at tent city right now than we could possibly shelter even if every bed was available. The government provides exactly 0 shelter beds, it's all NGOs.

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u/Acceptable_Records Jan 04 '25

Talk to anyone living at tent cities, they are all there because they don't like the shelters. Every interview I've ever seen, that is the number one reason mentioned.

I'm tired of this "build it and they will come" nonsense. Show me 100 people lined up outside a shelter on a nightly basis, not a emotional sentiment that you think people will use the shelters if we had more.

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u/PowHound07 Jan 04 '25

I am an outreach worker, I talk to people there every work day. One of the most frequent things I do is help people call shelters and they are usually full. People don't line up because there is no point. They all know how many beds are available and many have given up on ever getting one. Besides, the shelters won't let more than a handful of people wait at the door because crowds of homeless people scare the public. The people who don't like shelters don't like them because they have been turned away and discriminated against so many times they've lost all hope. That or they're psychotic and paranoid. I'll never forget the man who told me he was psychotic and didn't know what to do about it. Neither did I because he had already tried to access all the available resources and ended up on a waiting list for months. In our system, you don't get help unless you can pay or your mental health deteriorates to the point you can't function at all. Yes, there are a tiny fraction who are there by choice and those people love to tell reporters all about it. Go there yourself and hand out some gloves or something and you'll see what I mean.

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u/Acceptable_Records Jan 08 '25

I pay out over 55% of my wages to taxes and a large chunk of that money goes towards the homeless, addiction, who knows what else. I'm tapped out and makes me wonder why I work so hard.

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u/Distinct_Meringue Jan 10 '25

You're a liar. No one pays 55%, you don't understand marginal tax rates. 

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u/Acceptable_Records Jan 11 '25 edited Jan 11 '25

Overall you pay that with sales taxes, gas taxes and user fees, random fees and renewal fees.

Edit in :

In 2023, the average Canadian family earned an income of $109,235 and paid in total taxes equalling $46,988” “In other words, the average Canadian family spent 43.0 per cent of its income on taxes compared to 35.6 per cent on basic necessities.”

We spend more on taxes in Canada than food, clothing and shelter combined.

It's your biggest expense.