City officials worried about rise in panhandling

The number of homeless people soliciting passers-by and motorists in downtown Sherbrooke is on the rise, and Sherbrooke’s elected officials have asked the Sherbrooke Police Service and the Public Safety Committee to study the issue.

The number of tickets issued to people begging has been increasing since 2015. Just this year, the police have handed out 128, while during the whole of 2017, only 60 were handed out.

Since 2015, the number of tickets given for public begging has steadily increased from 45 in 2015 to 128 already this year.

For some, like partage Saint-françois general manager Sébastien Laberge, the problem can be explained by a lack of services in the public network.

"These are people who are very marginalized, who have mental health problems, severe addiction problems, who are struggling to find appropriate services to help them in the health system," Laberge said. "Sherbrooke organizations are overwhelmed and cannot answer all their problems. These are situations that are sometimes ridiculous. I have seen people living on the street receiving several thousand dollars worth of tickets on the same day. These are people who have a welfare check to live on, no fixed place of residence, and who hang out in the city center, so I do not see how giving them tickets is going to help them to find ways to get off the street."

Municipal Councilor Rémi Demers says that meetings were held with the Sherbrooke Police Service and the Coalition for Street Work and that the problem that must be addressed in partnership with several community organizations, like La Chaudronnée soup kitchen, which is not open on weekends, for lack of funding.