One of my greatest joys in life is sitting on the deck in my backyard after work each day (weather permitting) and reading a good book until it gets too dark to read the pages.
It’s my time to relax and unwind while the birds fly around in the trees and, at this time of year, squirrels are busy collecting nuts and other foods to get through the winter.
It’s a peaceful scene and it’s something I look forward to after a busy day at work.
That’s why my deep sympathies go out to Donna and Jim Cuthbert and their ongoing troubles with trespassers that have taken over their backyard on Drinkwater Road, near Cowichan Commons.
The brother and sister grew up in the house after their parents bought it in the 1970s, and Donna still lives in the home.
The house has (had) a beautiful and large backyard with tall trees where Donna used to have a garden.
I could easily see myself sitting in the yard reading books until sunset each day.
But Donna and Jim contacted me in 2023 in frustration after trespassers had burned two sheds in the yard, containing garden tools and bikes, to the ground.
Donna said the problems began in 2022, shortly after BC Housing’s supportive housing facility opened on Paddle Road and many of its residents and their friends started using the backyard as a short cut to get to the Cowichan Commons shopping centre.
They began using the sheds to do their drugs and Donna and Jim had a number of fires and drug paraphernalia left in the sheds before the sheds were finally burned to the ground.
Donna said that at the time the RCMP had been to the house many times responding to her repeated calls, but she was told there is little the police can do.
The Lookout Housing and Health Society, which runs the supportive housing facility on Paddle Road, called Sq’umul’ Shelh Lelum’, had been in contact with Donna and Jim to offer support, and Donna was told the society requires all tenants at the facility to sign a Good Neighbour Agreement along with their tenant agreement which outlines expectations that include cleanliness, noise, and being respectful to the neighbours.
But the facility is not a prison and there is little staff can do to monitor the residents’ activities once they are away from it.
Besides, not everyone causing problems in the neighbourhood is a resident of the facility, with many in the area to visit friends who are residents, and there's little that the society can do about that.
So, despite trying some fencing and other strategies, the problems continue at the Cuthbert house.
A few weeks ago, Jim called me and said trespassers had gotten into the large wooden garage in the backyard, the only structure left on the property other than the house itself, on consecutive nights to build fires and do drugs before sleeping there through the night.
He was concerned about the safety of Donna, who hasn’t ventured out into the backyard for years in fear of running into drugged-up intruders.
Jim invited me to the house to take a look at the drug paraphernalia and the smouldering fire that was left in the garage from the night before, but when we entered the garage, we stumbled across two people passed out on a door that was resting on some tires.
Needless to say, we were startled and quickly left the garage and Jim called the RCMP.
A police officer was on scene within minutes, but the couple had already vacated the shed.
The officer spotted them sitting just outside the Cuthbert property close to Cowichan Commons and went to take their names and talk to them, but there was little he could do but warn them against trespassing.
I’ve heard from Jim several times since and the problems still continue.
My heart goes out to the siblings.
If this was happening in my peaceful backyard, I don’t know what I’d do, but I know I’d feel robbed of one of the greatest aspects of my home and, like the Cuthberts, I’d be very concerned about my safety and my house.
I don’t have any ready answers as to how to best deal with these social issues; but I do know that the situation is not improving, especially for the Cuthberts.
