Somebody overdoses decently out of sight in the east end and the response from the Vancouver government, the media and too much of public is a collective shrug. Have it happen 15 blocks to the west and suddenly its an urgent public health and safety crisis.
Ashlie Gough was happy and healthy the last time she visited her father’s house on Vancouver Island.
She was 23. After high school she had drifted a little – she studied tattoo design and travelled the world with a new boyfriend who was a scuba diver.
“She zig-zagged back and forth a bit and an interesting life, but she was really starting to grow up,” her father, Tom Gough, said on Monday.
On the weekend she went to visit friends who were camping out as part of the Occupy Vancouver protest and on Saturday she was found inside a tent, unresponsive. The cause of her death isn’t official yet, but it may have been a drug overdose.
During an interview at his Vancouver Island home on Monday, Tom Gough appeared sombre, if not in shock.
His partner Glenda Mercer’s voice broke as she detailed how cheerful Ms. Gough had been the last time she saw her.
“She was just on top of the world,” a teary-eyed Ms. Mercer recalled.
Mr. Gough said his daughter was not involved in the Occupy protest against corporate greed.
“We don’t want her made into some kind of poster child for the occupation because Ashlie’s death had nothing to do with that,” he said. “This has nothing to do with the tent city or Occupy Vancouver. She just happened to be there. It’s just another bad thing that happened in downtown Vancouver.”
