Dear City Council of Victoria, B.C.

Please seriously consider what the risk to all Victorians health will be if you are to end shelter in place protection for those most vulnerable. You have achieved complete success so far why stop now? To date there was one exposure within the community and has since become a non issue. That means Victoria enjoys an advantage over other places within BC. It is a safer place to be because those most vulnerable are not displaced, factually. In Vancouver and the Lower mainland where Councils have bent to pressure from angry, hostile, home owners who do not want to see this in there neighborhoods , as none of us do, the sight of what it looks like to be homeless in poverty,  and reduced to living life in a tent. It is a fact this is far beyond the repair of pulling up ones bootstraps as that is not the current situation. We are not talking about small numbers of weary stray souls. We are talking about hundreds  in a small city being litterally displaced. Within there own community. Singularity due to the lack of affordability of housing and real estate becoming commodity. It is the fault of all three levels of government to support affordable and fair housing opportunities for the population it serves. We now find ourselves in many crises . As well, with a pandemic that kills and is as simple as catching a cold to succumb to. If you displaced people from sheltering now it is quite literally like playing Russian roulette with your own health as that is what you will be doing. The numbers are bound to increase as people who have no place to shelter will come into more contact daily with people and places in the city. The poor are most at risk because street culture does not allow for safe distancing itself and is prone to share the articles of self medication and pain relief in whatever way that may be for them. Simply put more likely to share. The Corona virus once inside the homeless community would spike numbers in Victoria greatly. As is the case in Vancouver where the homeless who have no place to wash or keep distance or to isolate themselves are only able to survive aimlessly take the illness wherever they go. It is not a matter of humanitarianism at this point in time. It is a matter of logic. We enjoy a bit of a bubble today because we have done things differently to this point in Victoria all credit due. Please keep safe sheltering in place and move away from Mar.31 as a day we all will regret because it is a day we forgot we are all in this together. There is no reason to put lives at risk especially if it is to favour the voices of those who enjoy the privilege of having a place to safely shelter in over the voices of those who do not. We are reminded of the call of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to especially extend the rights within it to the poor and most vulnerable in our society. Please be reasonable in your decision.