This past week has been a very interesting one for Banff decision makers. And by interesting, of course, we mean, what’s going on?
From the YWCA’s women’s shelter to the death of Banff snails to possibly putting a garbage collection business out of business, ‘optics’, as spin doctors say, are bad.
As to the issue of the Y’s shelter; hey, we’d all like to wear rose-coloured glasses when we view our Valley and then tell ourselves that all is well.
Those who are involved in a pleasant, peaceful domestic situation may not be able to relate to a woman or mother who faces violence on a regular basis – but it happens, even in this valley.
The idea of the Y not being able to offer these women shelter because the Town of Banff won’t waive a garbage and recycling collection fee of $7,000 to $10,000 is not even worth considering (story on page 18).
Imagine, if you will, being a woman or mother in this valley, sometimes with little by way of friend and family support, who, for whatever reason (finances, education…), cannot step away from an abusive relationship.
It happens. Some women, especially mothers, simply find themselves in a position where they cannot pick up sticks and walk away. Ask a Bow Valley Victim Services counsellor.
With the Y’s shelter operating, these women can seek out respite and assistance and receive much needed sanctuary.
Without the Y’s shelter and programs, though, what would a woman or mother do in the case of being at the hands of an abusive partner? Put up with physical, mental or emotional abuse? Keep making trips to the hospital, try to cover up bruises, turn to drink or drugs for emotional numbing?
None of the above are suitable solutions to a domestic violence situation.
And for those who favour statistics in clarifying an argument, here are some scary numbers from the Y. In 2009-10, the shelter was in use for 49 nights, while in 2010-11, that number soared to 294 nights.
That’s 294 nights when a woman or mother, pregnant or with children, felt compelled to seek out the Y’s assistance. Being that we see no reason the Y would fudge these numbers, clearly, domestic violence is a growing problem in this valley.
For that reason, RMO would urge Banff council to find a way to make the garbage/recycling fee go away for the YWCA.
In the end, we feel that in the midst of the municipality’s budget lines, these few thousand dollars should be easily dealt with as they add up to little more than coffee money.
For those out there who might think there is some fiscal responsibility in the town insisting on the Y paying the garbage/recycling dollars, RMO would point out that this is the same municipality which spent $1 million to put a positive spin on ripping up and replacing infrastructure on its main street.
On a $23 million infrastructure project, Banff ponied up $1 million for its communications department to make roadwork and waterworks repairs seem like a refreshing downtown event.
Further, the $1 million was capped off by spending another $121,000 to celebrate the end of the construction work with an ill-conceived Banff Live street party virtually nobody attended. These dollars alone would have covered the Y’s garbage/recycling costs for a decade.
