by Matt Skube, CTV News – April 27, 2015
Luke Brunet is a professional engineer, but he’s been homeless since September. “You often get intoxicated people that will come up to you and try to take a swing at you for no apparent reason,” he says. According to him, it’s all part of living on the streets, and he’s not alone.
In a survey done last week of 461 homeless people in the capital, 41% say they’ve been beaten up or assaulted. Chronic homelessness is also on the rise, with three quarters of the people polled saying they’ve been on the streets for over six months. The average length of time spent on the street is over three and a half years.