Jan 10, 2013- 10:45 AM
I write in support of the 11 members of the Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty (S-CAP) who were arrested and charged with trespassing after staging a peaceful protest at Rick Bartolucci’s office in light of the recent decision to scrap the Community Start Up Fund.
S-CAP are advocating for a group (including women, children, men, minorities) that is so marginalized, it rarely gets its voice heard. We need a community who will not turn its back on those in need.
Poverty and homelessness in Sudbury is something we as Sudburians must fight to abolish. It starts here, with grassroots organizations such as SCAP, to empower those struggling with these adversities.
Giving these people a voice means we can all use it to stand up to the government to say “Sudbury has had it. We love our community; we love our people — justice and well-being for all.”
All levels of the Canadian government turn their heads when it comes to implementing/funding the necessary social services to truly make a difference in peoples’ lives.
The S-CAP members cannot live with people starving on the streets, and they would not leave Bartolucci’s office without making sure their message was heard.
They were not just going to pack up and leave, allowing the silencing of this voice yet again.
If your neighbours had to leave their home and had no food to feed themselves or their family, would you not step in to assist in some way? The members of S-CAP treat all those struggling with poverty as their neighbours.
On Nov. 9, they brought their neighbours’ struggle to Rick Bartolucci’s office in an attempt to assist them. What did he do? He called the police. Stand up, Sudbury, and support these great people at their trial on Jan. 21, 2013.
Fionna Tough
Greater Sudbury
