On the morning of February 3rd, when temperatures were expected to head below -30 degrees over the weekend and people continued to sleep outside in tents as a result of the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis in Peterborough, Town Ward Councillor Alex Bierk sent out a tweet calling for mutual aid and materials from community members. 

“We need to meet the needs of individuals living outside and not impose our own perceptions” he wrote alongside of goods which included convenient hot food, gloves, survival gear, firewood, tarps, and money. 

His list also included “weed and alcohol” among the goods being requested and required for those living in encampments.  

Unfortunately, much of the media attention that has followed Bierk since this tweet has focused on the mere mention of substances alongside the other essentials. The online reaction, while admittedly more mixed due to Bierk’s popularity and well-earned reputation as an advocate for those with lived and living experiences of homelessness and addiction both before and during his time as a Councillor, has been vitriolic and largely hyper-focused on the inclusion of booze and weed.  

One cannot help but feel that this is a sad reflection of how we as a society view and understand the complexities of substance use, addiction, and the way they are interconnected with homelessness. It is also disheartening to see the way in which larger media outlets have fed into the online vitriol when most understand the intentional conflation of these issues serves only to distract from their systemic causes.

I refuse to amplify the voices of those who would suggest that supplying cannabis or alcohol to those living in encampments is somehow irresponsible. Readers of this piece can readily find that underneath the various tweets by Bierk and I would imagine under various Examiner and National Post articles as well. 

To the people busy clutching their pearls at the mention of perfectly legal substances being supplied as a part of a mutual aid effort by an elected official, I would ask only that they pause and reflect on what their response says about their personal priorities and how they determine the worth of a human life.  

Living with addiction is a miserable daily slog no matter your station in life. Drinking or using a substance because you have to in order to sleep or function is a world away from most people’s choice to enjoy a glass of wine at dinner or a joint with some friends (or by yourself - I don’t judge). A person’s drug of choice when living with addiction is often the only relief they have from a myriad of mental and physical symptoms which come with withdrawal. Those who have not experienced that should count themselves lucky and hope that they never do.  

Sobriety is not a moral victory any more than addiction is a moral failing. If and when sobriety comes for anyone, whether they are living in a tent or in a mansion, it comes as a result of rigorous, often physically and mentally painful effort on the part of that individual. 

Those looking down upon anyone who is attempting, in any way, to help provide some form of relief to someone living in an encampment would do well to interrogate their urge to do so.

What Bierk did is openly advocate for harm reduction in a way which for people without a nuanced understanding of addiction might seem jarring. It speaks volumes that seeing an elected official support people in a way which respects their requests without imposing moral judgment seems so radical.   

Bierk did nothing wrong. By normalizing mutual aid in this community, by meeting our homeless neighbours where they are at and encouraging us to do the same he has given us all hope that we can develop the empathy and understanding required to help others no matter how or where they live, what they consume, or how they act. 

I’m grateful to live in Peterborough and in Town Ward specifically. I am also extremely fortunate and humbled to be able to continue to learn from people like Bierk and the countless others in our community who are quietly making a difference through their ongoing activism.