Fines won’t solve homelessness

We don’t give second thought that someone who commits a violent crime should be appropriately punished; perhaps even deserving of a period in jail.

As a society, we accept that laws are needed to make society both safe and to punish those who violate the norms of commonly-accepted behaviour.

However, under the definition of criminal law, is it appropriate to consider homelessness deserving of punishment?

Sure, we don’t directly lock up people for being homeless, but indirectly cities and lawenforcement agencies choose to apply fines and tickets to the act of being homeless, such that it creates a vicious cycle of despair and poverty that many may never escape.

Former RCMP superintendent Bill Mckinnon’s report on public safety highlights an example of one person being fined in excess of $20,000 over multiple years. Fines that can never be paid. Rather than think of the homeless as destitute and deserving of help, the City of Kelowna and law enforcement choose to classify them as a “nuisance” by levying fines when what is needed are supports, empathy and solutions to the causes of homelessness.

Who chooses to sleep on a cold side walk or sleep in their car? Such a person has surely lost everything. Yet, under the city’s bylaw sleeping in your car may merit a fine of “up to $10,000 or liable to a term of incarceration for a period of not more than 90 days.”

A fine is not going to solve the problem. Rather, discerning application of fines, combined with concrete actions to address the systemic reasons for homelessness may prove to be of benefit to everyone.