Homeless farm plan sparks $6-million race
Residents want to buy Woodwynn land in Central Saanich to halt proposed therapeutic institution
A controversial proposal to house homeless people on Woodwynn Farm in Central Saanich has ignited a race to raise $6 million to buy the historic property. On one side is Richard LeBlanc's Creating Homefulness Society, with a plan to use the rolling, 78-hectare property on West Saanich Road as a therapeutic farm for homeless people. On the opposite side are neighbours from Mount Newton Cross Road, who have formed a non-profit group to raise funds to keep the property as farmland in perpetuity. Neighbours admit they do not want to see the farm become an institution for homeless people, but say they are looking at a social component for the farm, possibly incorporating some of LeBlanc's ideas.

See also the following responses to that article:

Turning our backs on the homeless
What a grim commentary on our commitment to deal with homelessness. Some people in Central Saanich want to raise $6 million not to help, but to block a potentially valuable project that could help some people make the transition into stable lives...

Bring together the homeless and the farmless
Anyone walking in downtown Victoria today encounters the problem -- legions of the homeless, young and old, sprawled on old sleeping bags, hoping for handouts. About 1,500 of them, by recent counts. But how many on the road to Victoria notice something else -- legions of trucks off the ferries, bringing tonnes of food from California to feed the homeless and well-heeled alike? If the borders closed, Vancouver Island has perhaps one week's supply of food...