Now that the lazy gloriousness of the holiday season is well and truly over 鈥� students have gone back to school, businesses have opened up again and I think (although I鈥檓 not positive) that I鈥檝e paid most of my bills 鈥� we鈥檙e back to normal.
Or at least, some of us are. We lucky few on the West Coast have the luxury of slipping back into business as usual, while the rest of the country is waiting for the magic spell that will free them from the grip of the Ice Queen.
We鈥檝e heard terrible stories since Christmas coming from the Atlantic provinces, central Canada and the Prairies: lengthy power outages, delayed flights, Christmases ruined and, worst of all, 911 calls going unheeded as authorities scramble to recover their footing.
Two of my friends spent their holiday vacation trekking to Tim Horton鈥檚 every morning just to warm up with coffee, and ended up pitching the ingredients for their failed Christmas dinner into the snow so the raw food wouldn鈥檛 spoil.
If those are the stories we鈥檙e hearing from the people who are lucky enough to have roofs over the heads, then I cannot imagine what things are like for the people who aren鈥檛 so fortunate, the people who have nowhere to go and no way to protect themselves from the elements.
Things get hairy when the chips are down, and a lot of homeless people were and are still suffering from the storms.
So yeah, we鈥檙e pretty lucky in B.C. I haven鈥檛 worn my winter coats since early December, and 6 C (even with the overcast) is paradise when you compare it to -40 C.
Our warmer climate is one of the reasons, though certainly not the only one, that Victoria and 91原创 have a comparably larger homeless population than other 91原创 cities 鈥� but this doesn鈥檛 mean that they don鈥檛 still need help.
It鈥檚 a truism that the majority of winter charity drives focus on the holiday season, and certainly there鈥檚 nothing wrong with capitalizing on seasonal generosity.
Many of Victoria鈥檚 great charity organizations are active all year round, but do much of their major work during the lead-up to the Christmas season.
The spirit of the 鈥渟eason of giving鈥� can remind us that it鈥檚 been a while since we donated. Or perhaps people find themselves, as I did this year, flush with a Christmas bonus and decide to share the wealth based on the feeling that they suddenly have more to give.
But it鈥檚 worth remembering, as we watch the rest of Canada freeze, that people are going to need assistance all winter long, not only at Christmas. This is on its way to becoming a truism as well, but I felt it particularly forcefully this year.
Giving at Christmas always makes me feel reflective (鈥淎m I only doing this because it鈥檚 Christmas? Why didn鈥檛 I give in November?鈥�). The act of giving 鈥� the part of charity that most of us engage in 鈥� is one of those things that does, or should, remind us how uncertain life can be for those living on the edge.
I chose to give this year because I had a bonus, because I was having a good day, because I was walking down the street and it was sunny. Someone else was dependent upon the whims of my generosity 鈥� and my consciousness of that was as good a reminder as any that there are people in need at all times of year, not only when I鈥檓 feeling generous.
This is hardly a new observation, simply a reminder 鈥� for myself 鈥� of the precariousness of the charity model.
The entire 鈥渟eason of giving鈥� framework is problematic. We鈥檙e still facing months of winter.
Not that we shouldn鈥檛 give. I鈥檓 not arguing for that at all. In fact, it was hearing that the Victoria Cool Aid Society is holding a warm clothing drive that got me thinking about this topic.
(Cool Aid is accepting coats, gloves, hats, socks, blankets and other cold-weather gear at 1509 Douglas St. from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on weekdays until Tuesday, to be given away for free to those who need them.)
Charity is great, but it鈥檚 a halfway step, and it鈥檚 no substitute for the long-term systemic change that we need to end homelessness. Even worse, charity can make us feel complacent, and I needed a reminder of that.
The coldest days of the year are yet to come.
