Pickton Trial: Finding Fault

ritu
I agree with you. It was the madness of the killer that brought an end to these poor women. But, how did they get to this point? That is the question.......what happened to them along the way that may have been prevented and not placed them in jeopardy? That is what we need to find out and try to resolve in order to avoid this tragedy from rehappening. I realize that it will be impossible to defend ourselves from the lunatics of this world........but we can do something about bringing up children and looking after our distressed memebers of our families to assure that they are not at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong person. We need action on many levels by many people to accomplish this complex situation.
I am looking for real substancial ways of attacking this problem. Hopefully you are too...and we need to share our views so that othes can benefit fom them and start to act rather than react after the fact. Mike

luyen,
I agree that the ills of individual people is one of the sources of the ills of our society. I agree that this is one place to start the healing process. But how? Throwing money at it wont help.
Providing more education, jobs, trained workers to come in and help, having people meet and discuss their issues with someone who can assist in finding answers, debating the pros and cons of doing this or that.......and taking responsibility for their lives and those of their children and family is another way.
These are not easy solutions....but start we must.....otherwise we should expect the same to continue...somewhere in BC or Ontario we will one day wake up to an announcement that a similar situation has occurred and the cycle will continue.
As I have said before.... my intent is to promote discussion.......to get people angry about this....angry enough to want to do something.......not blame governments, society or large groups of people....but start by looking at how we got where we are and how we can change how things are boing done to avoid the same results.
I hope this explains my intent.and I hope it is close to yours. Mike

"Hi Mike - I agree that someone needs to take responsibility for what happened to these women, but I disagree that the fault lies with the families. I think society as a whole needs to take responsibility. Even if the families did "fail" the women in some cases, we're supposed to have a safety net in Canada, and clearly these women fell through the cracks. As a society we turned a blind eye."

It is simple to blame society. It is a large group.....and there is no way to punish them or to take them all to court, or anything. That is why I start with a small group......the family. At the very least, we can watch and help a small group of people to make changes in their lives and thus the chain of change can move on through larger groups and eventually to the society. You cannot start at the top.....it has to be grass roots. We all know that.

"I think your anger is very valuable. We need to get angry to make sure this never happens again. Blaming the people who are suffering in their loss is not going to make society any smarter."

No, that is for sure. But, it may, just may, trigger some thought in some family member that they were in part responsible for what happened and maybe, just maybe, it may trigger some change in their behaviour and modelling of their behaviour to young children around them. Or it may bring them some shame for what they overlooked with these women or how they modelled badly for them that made them become what they did become. Shame can be a powerful tool. So is reponsibility and they both go hand in hand as far as I am concerned.

"Women are still dying on the Downtown Eastside, and not because of a serial killer. They are dying of their addictions and poverty, and neither the City of Vancouver nor the Province is doing anything about it. In fact, two more programs for women on the DTES are facing closure as we speak: The Aboriginal Mother's Association and PEERS, which helps sex trade workers. Apparently they couldn't justify their funding requests."

Or maybe they see the futility in throwing money at something that requires a more basic approach. A change in value systems and people taking responsiblity for what they do and who they bring into this 'new worlf' we live in. Do you really think that giving people money or homes without having them change their approach to life is going to accomplish anything? I dont.

"We shouldn't have even applied for the Olympics until we cleaned up our own backyard. Now if we do clean it up, it won't be because we care, but because we don't want the world to see what we've let go on for so long."

OR we dont want others to see just how badly some people behave and have them observe the lack of responsibility to themselves, their children, and family members. I would rather take all the people who live there and move them out into other places (communities/villages) in very small groups to live with other people who know what responsibility is, what good values are and how to apply them to every day life, what good modelling is........with the hope that their children (from this horrible community) will see the alternatives that exist.in other communities/villages......and begin to model this good behaviour themselves and say to themselves..... I dont need to be like my mother or father or sister or brother..... I can be better..........I see others being better.

I want all of you who have read my post to know that I do understand fully the problems that exist in BC, just like the ones that exist in Toronto. My question, my search, is for some 'action'. I am not really interested in watching people putting candles and flowers on pavements and trying to say how sorry they are for what happened to these women or others in my city.

I want people to get to the bottom of all of this. I want the government to help as much as they can. But, please be honest. These problems start early and they start in homes. Poor role models, poverty (due to lack of initiative, education, energy), values that may be rooted in ancient or historical pasts. Values that once worked but now they dont, and few are looking to see how to adapt to this 'new world' we all find ourselves in. Those that do look and assess and make changes survive, the rest dont. Dont you think it is time to do make these changes? Do you really expect the government to make these changes, or do you expect individuals and families to do it?
I know my view of who should start the process. Do you?

I came from another country with my father and mother. We had $50 with us. My parents were 50 yrs old when they arrived in Canada. I was 12. They showed me, way back where we lived in Cuba, what was right and what was wrong ....not by telling me....but by modelling positive behaviour. They continued doing this when we arrived here. They kept the roots that promised to grow and threw away those that did not hold that promise. We survived. I went to school, got a Dr. Degree, taught at Universities in Ontario and the US. I still hold those basic values and I still change as time reshapes the soil I work and live in, I change to survive. Why cant others do this? It is not impossible. It is time consuming and very rewarding and at times it is painful and hard work......but we are here for only a while, so we need to make the best use of time that we can and do it well.

I am sorry some of you are offended by my question and my anger. But, that is your problem to deal with and I suggest you start by looking deep inside you and ask yourself this question. Am I part of the village that helps to raise a good child or am I waiting for someone else to do it for me?
Parts of your village and mine are sick and need healing. Dont you agree?
Thank you for your thoughts and I welcome more, if you care to reply.