low start," Dave remarked, "it's been reasonably successful. I feel its greatest sucm
s is giving students employment, new experience, and demonstrating thatlocalorganiza—
ns and government can work together." ' ' , .
Minnedosa RCMP detachment's Sgt. J. Horn, one of the most pleasant mounties I've ever
meta indicates'this area has had virtually no transient problem since his posting here.
This despite increase in popularity of the Yellowhead and greater summer mobility'ofteen—
aged transients generally and proximity of Clear Lake which attracts many hitch—hikers.
Seldom do his men question a transient; Besides an age and sex factor the sergeant sees a
‘ major difference betwoen today's transient and the "professional hitch-hiker" he encount~
cred often as young policeman while stationed in Virden on the Trans~Canada west of Bran-
den 15 years ago, Many of those, he felt, Were hard—core unemployed whose life style ban
.3 came hitching back and forth across Canada, some of whom "you could almost setexWatctlby."
“' ,Minnedosa, he says, like many smaller urban centres where facilities fortransientsare
' limited, has a "last resort policy" for stranded indigents. This usually consists of One
,"or tWO mealvtickets and sometimes a hotel room. HOWeVer, probably because of recent re-
routing of a portion of highways four and 10 to bypass Minnedosa's residential areas, the
percentage of transients passing through the towu itself has decreased sharply and conse—
quently the number of requests for assistance is small averaging less than 15 annually.
When‘he realized my hometown was Boissevain and I learned he was stationed therefrom1958
.to 1964 we shared some pleasant memories reminiscing.
" 'The north junction of highways 10 and four is a popular embarking point fox'hitch—hikers
4 heading north on Highway 10.to Clear Lake, The Pas, Flin Flon,'or west on Highway four to
Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia. Although no farmyards are located.mnthe northern
rants near the junction, just west on the latter highway lives David Comrie Jr. David, a
'farmorwsingerwauctioneer who farms here with his school teacher wife and three children,
ans had numerous experiences with transients through the years. Many drop in for an drink
of water, to get away from a sudden thunderstorm, to ask directions, are sometimeshungry,
and even to use the bathroom. The number of transients along this portion. of Yellowhead,
' Dave says, is-definitely on the increase.
for various reasons my own family has always been involvsd with transients in some way
or other“ I’ve become thoroughly convinced that attitudes toward transients are to high
degree often related to the year of one's birth and consequently the transient situation
_during childhood when most influenced by hitch—hikers. For example, my wifeandfitwereboth
born in the early 1930s. We wereiun3young to feel either hostility or pity for the many
unemployed transient "tramps" of the Depressiong I can vaguely recall some stoppingen;our
' farm asking for food. However, both of us vividly remember countless servicemenhitchnhik~
~ing during the war immediately following the Depression. This was a brief period in Cana~
dian history when public attitude toward transients was neither pity nor hostility , but
pride; when it was patriotic to giVe one a rideo My hypothesis is that if atheroughstudy
were undertaken to compare attitudes towards hitch—hikers of persons born in Canadaz1sig—
nificant difference would be found betwsen the present 48-50 year old (thosechildrenwhom
the Depression'transient situation influenced most) and the present 35-42 year old groups
(those children whom the Second World War servicemen transient situation influenced most)
~~through no fault or conscious action on either part.
As teen~ager I hitchmhiked a lot; mostly on highways three, two, 10, 75.Nowwhen I see
a hitch—hiker I stop almost automatically; a practice I wouldn't necessarily recommend to
. everyone, and certainly no? to women. My own '67 centennial project was picking up hitch—
. hikers; some 200 along highway 4. Of the 1,000 or so I've transported during ‘my lifetime
:less than 10 would be considered trouble makersnudrunk, on drugs, Very hostile etc. To my
knowledge only one was armed; and he tried to sell_his .38 pistol; Semetimes youausdriver
.get a pleasant surprise; a transient shares his lunch with you, you meet an old acquaint~
ancennlike a Brandon University student I transported recently whom I'd taughtimPortage°
My own teen—age son Lory's logged some 6,000 miles hitch~hiking. This summerluaand sevb
t,eral other Cross~Reach'(sponsored by United Church of Canada plus other~0rganisations) V01!

a 8
cos
t o

’-~unteers (among them Larry Swanson of Dauphin and Scott Douglas of Portage)operatedan in-

teresting drop—in centre. Located in St. Stephens Broadway United Church adjacent to Meme
orial Park (Manitoba's major meeting place of transients) in Winnipeg, this centre served
: some 400 transients weekly, many of whom used thevTrans-Canada and Yellowhead .highways .

Services included showers and coffee, referrals to hostels, feednins, counselling,suruifihl
tipsr The dropmin was also a place to relax, read, play ping pong. As valuable a living
experience for workers as its services were to transients. "'

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