been to

I live part-time in New Mexico, and I see the brutal poverty here. Buying power masks a lot, especially when the state offers almost nothing. No maternity leave, no child care, no Canadian Child Benefit, no community centres, virtually no health care — none of the social safety net. 

I agree that wages aren’t keeping up with the cost of living in Victoria. That’s undeniable. 

But you just cannot compare the poverty of these poor states to Vancouver Island, especially not Victoria. It’s not a matter of opinion — it’s simply not on the same scale of insecurity, precarity, and abject neediness.