apparently, victoria's mayor and council don't actually hold any power. this is what my friend, who's currently studying canadian history, tells me. he says it's the city manager who holds the power because he/she's the person with the ability to spend the money. so, even if the mayor and council wanted to do something decent, like help people help themselves, they can't because a person in an unelected position is the only one with the power to actually spend the money and do anything. my history student friend says elected officials know this secret, that they are powerless and nothing more than figure-heads, but the masses don't know it so they go through the ritual of voting, believing they're participating in a democracy. people who have this knowledge, that the mayor and council is just a dog and pony show, don't tend to vote, because they understand the futility of it. there's no point in endorsing this facade. since the only thing that matters to the city manager is revenue and homeless people don't generate revenue, they're considered unimportant and will never get anything from city officials. it must be strange pretending to be powerful, all the while realizing you're just living a big lie, but i guess it explains the about face from the recently elected so-called 'progressives'. they're just bad actors on the colonialist stage.
