Dear Mr. Selzer,
I read this morning’s article in the Ottawa Sun about your battle with the residents of the downtown area over your desire to relocate Centre 454 back to it’s original home at St. Alban’s church on King Edward. According to the article, you were shocked at how easily people were able to dehumanize the poor. Suggestions were made to “ship the homeless’ away to places like Arnprior. In response, you were quoted as saying, “People were saying we ought to get rid of these people, carted away. It sounded like Nazi Germany.”
Of course, your opponents were outraged. How dare you equate their comments to what happened in Germany.
And yet, according to Earl McRae’s column, Mark Zarecki, executive director of Jewish Family Services, doesn’t disagree with you. If anyone (and any organization) has the right to disagree with you, it would be the Jewish Family Services. And yet, Zarecki suggests that there is an alarming trend toward viewing the homeless as “less than human.” Or, at least, “less human than those of us who are not homeless.”
Mr. Selzer, I applaud you. I don’t know you. I don’t believe we’ve ever met at any ministerial, but I love your stance on this debate. I’m glad that you are refusing to cave in to a developer who just build a condo across the street from St. Alban’s church. He is concerned that people will think he wasn’t upfront about the homeless situation when he sold his customers their very expensive apartments. He’s concerned that they will be mad at him because homeless people will be sleeping in a church across the street.
In contrast, you, Mr. Selzer, are concerned that homeless people will have a place to go. You are focused on helping people who have nothing. I applaud you for it. If needed, I’ll happily stand with you in supporting it.
As a pastor of two churches in Vanier, I know what it’s like to see people misunderstood. I’ve seen people make sweeping statements about the residents of this community. In most cases, their statements are wrong. In some cases, their statements are simply over-simplified. Every community in Ottawa has crime. Every community has abuse. Every community has drugs. Every community has prostitution.
Here in Vanier, we plan on doing something about it. Whether it’s our Free Store, or other initiatives, we are going to be here for the poor, the homeless, the broken, the hurting.
I’m so glad you’re doing the same.
Sincerely,
Rev. Rob Dale
