Dark Web, Darker Days – A Canada Day Reality Check from Granville Island

 

Dark Web, Darker Days – A Canada Day Reality Check from Granville Island

I used to work at Granville Island.

A couple years ago, I gave it my all, did good work—but when the next season rolled around, I wasn’t rehired. Instead, I watched as someone else got the position—a Temporary Foreign Worker or maybe an International Student. Nothing against them personally, but it felt like a slap. Born and raised here. Skilled. Experienced. Still pushed aside.

And now?

Yesterday, that same area—Granville Island’s Toy Store—got hit. Two young men, most likely born here, shoplifted expensive games and bolted. Security cameras caught them. But we all know what happens next: nothing.

No arrests. No justice. No change.

Why? Because people—especially young people and seniors under 65—can’t get jobs. They can’t afford rent. They can’t afford the toys. And because they’ve grown up in a world where value doesn’t mean what it used to.

You see, when you work—when you earn something—you understand its worth. You don’t run out with unpaid merchandise. You don’t smash-and-grab. But how would they know that when doors are closed before they even knock?

These kids? They’ve been raised in a world where everyone is broke, overdosing, or dead. They've watched people sleeping in doorways, friends lost to fentanyl, adults too busy surviving to parent. Meanwhile, they scroll endlessly, exposed to horrors on the dark web no one should see.

And if that wasn’t enough, they’ve inherited a burning planet, an unaffordable city, and a crumbling democracy. Trump threatens to annex us. Billionaires fly to space while people die in alleyways.

So yes, maybe their little brains did short-circuit. Maybe they justified it. Maybe they thought it was funny. But there is nothing cool about what they did.

They will struggle to find work now. Their names will be flagged. Trust shattered. And still, no one is asking why kids are spiraling like this.

This isn’t just about shoplifting. This is about the rot eating through our foundations.

This is the generation meant to lead us? They’re angry, addicted to screens, disconnected, and confused. And what future have we given them to look forward to?

The future is dark—and getting darker.

So on this Canada Day, I’m not waving a flag. I’m lighting a signal fire.

Wake up.

We need real jobs. Real support. Real community. Or we’ll keep watching this society unravel, one stolen game at a time.

– Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita