PURE DOPE
Want to hear the sound of tax dollars being sucked out of the economy for no good purpose?
Sure you do.
Try this.
The CAMH, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Foundation is looking for a couple of high level employees. The Foundation is the fund-raising arm of the similarly named "teaching and research hospital," the largest in Canada, located of course in Toronto. It is the result of the marriage of the former Clarke Institute and the Addiction Research Foundation.
Here's how the career ad in today's papers describes the institution.
"pioneering redevelopment vision to transform the face of addiction and mental health treatment..."
Hahahahahahahahahaha...
Oh, Lord, save us from these people.
Not one addict, renewed, cleaned up, sober, walking tall have we ever witnessed because of the work of this august body.
They are largely pseudo-social scientists who publish arcane papers and long enlightening lists of statistical light bulbs, like how many people in Newfoundland took up cigarette smoking again since the new administration arrived.
This monument to political obfuscation (We have to study the problem before we can set policy.) costs many millions of dollars a year.
If all of that money or even a small portion of it were dedicated to treatment, our addiction problems would be considerably relieved.
But you see that would require that we admit two Inconvenient Truths:
1) We have as a goal for addicts, alcoholics and others a clean and sober life with self-respect at the core.
2) We recognize that the best recovery programs are those like AA, which cost very little money and large investments of time and effort by people who care and people who KNOW THE TERRITORY.
Of course, those Truths are Inconvenient precisely because there are few ribbon cuttings for politicians and few desk jobs for academic cyphers.
2 comments:
Eh, Dave. Sometimes reading your monologues is quite a guess work. I mean, there are more comments than facts and description of events. I mean, perhaps you can best inform the reader by giving us more information ---- who, what, how. and then criticize or praise based on your immutable wisdom. I enjoy your articles, but sometimes I lack previous knowledge to fully appreciate the work of yours.
Zhao
Of the large amounts of money dumped into the DTES over the years, I wonder how much of this ends up in the pockets of the Executives and CEOs that run these poverty organizations? I'd guess quite a large percentage. Because clearly, little has actually been spent on solving the problems, only studying them and temporary measures, like multi-million dollar shelters that are actually rundown warehouses. No blankets. No cots. No heat. No showers. Just a cold floor, and somehow it costs millions.
Perhaps we need an outside audit of all the organizations working in the DTES who are also receiving large sums of cash from the City. Because if we did, I'll bet we'd find some shocking surprises about just what happens to all that money and where most of it ends up.
Most people would never think to look into the dark corners of these poverty organizations because they are supposed to be helping people and doing good. But, it's the perfect hiding place for those who profit from poverty.
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