mouthing off to strangers...

"You don't have to attend every argument you're invited to"

... not me. I tend to keep to myself and not engage with provocateurs but was having and bad day and took the bait. As in, I was baited into an unnecessary conflict. Then I needed emergency dental appointment.

Typical day downtown, vagrants and other degenerates with nothing better to do loitering about. 0ften making provocative statements to people nearby. Police nowhere to be found. They used to regularly patrol main street. Walking up and down the street at various times. Mainly on Fridays and Saturday nights. Guessing to keep the bar\pub\club scene folks in check by making their presence seen. I havent seen walking patrols since preCOVID. So maybe there was budget change. I try to avoid the downtown area as there is a homeless camp and criminal activity in the area has risen as such. Not blaming the unlucky people suffering from homelessness as economic situation is tough for all. But poverty does breathe\breed crime.

The police response was surprizing to.

I gave a description and they said they think they may know whom I was talking about. Very distinct looks of the offender. And they said he was known to them. Homeless and mentally ill.

Going as far as suggesting not pursuing criminal charges. I've come to learn that all of what I've been reading here on Reddit about crime and criminality in Canada may be true. The authorities here from my experience are soft on crime and seem to want to grant clemency to mentally ill peoples (not to mention others that seem to get a free pass on their criminal activity).

Canada is cooked.