To the editor:
Re: "Housing minister says city won't need temporary shelters," Oct. 14.
Rich Coleman has been minister for housing long enough to know that housing societies don't scour the shelters looking for candidates to fill their units: units are filled from applicants whose names have been on their files for years, and most shelter users are so estranged from any connection with formal processes they would never be on anyone's wait list.
The need for continued support for cold-weather shelters is still urgent. His insistence that there is a direct benefit to these people as a result of new construction is either willful ignorance or cruel indifference.
Ian MacRae,
Vancouver
