Crowbars and getaway cars: Ottawa police investigating series of brazen smash-and-grabs

Brent Secondiuk served as a front-line cop in the southern Alberta city of Medicine Hat for 25 years, and understands the futility of dismantling homeless encampments and otherwise dislodging itinerants who decide to bunk down in public spaces. “We used to call it leaf-blowing … you just scatter the leaves, and the leaves end up somewhere else,” he says. The most frustrating part, though: Medicine Hat has housing available for the homeless. “You can be home if you want to,” he laments. “You just choose not to when it’s nice outside,” he says of itinerants who prefer to live rough...