Blocked road to recovery
Law designed to curtail rise in aggressive panhandling infringes on rights, legal clinic says
Fines handed out under Ontario’s Safe Streets Act trap the most marginalized people in a cycle of poverty, saddling them with debts they have no hope of paying and violating their constitutional rights, according to a Toronto legal clinic that is challenging the law.
“People requesting alms are generally the most marginalized people in our society: Indigenous persons, individuals with mental health disabilities and/or addictions, and people reliant on social assistance,” wrote the Fair Change Community Legal Clinic, in a 624-page application record filed in Ontario Superior Court on Monday.
The documents include affidavits from two men and a woman who faced thousands of dollars in fines and jail time, along with testimony from psychologists and social scientists who detail “discriminatory impacts” the tickets can have on those who receive them.
“Thousands of panhandlers have been convicted of violating the act for simply engaging in the seeking of alms in ways that have traditionally been regarded as very acceptable,” wrote the authors of the application.
“People requesting alms are generally the most marginalized people in our society.” FAIR CHANGE COMMUNITY LEGAL CLINIC
The Ministry of the Attorney General has received the file and the materials are being reviewed by ministry lawyers, a spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday.
“As this matter is currently before the court, it would be inappropriate to com- ment further,” said Brian Gray, in an emailed statement. The Safe Streets Act was passed in 1999 to curtail was what seen as a rise in aggressive behaviour from panhandlers, particularly by people who were stepping into the street to squeegee a driver’s windshield in exchange for cash.
Fair Change argues that the act violates the right to freedom of expression; the right to life, liberty and security of the person; the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty; the right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment; and the right to be free from discrimination.
The tickets and accompanying fines also impede the recovery of vulnerable people, the authors wrote.
Gerry Williams, 47, detailed in his affidavit how his struggles with alcoholism and undiagnosed mental health issues resulted in about $65,000 in fines, for a mix of Safe Streets Act tickets and provincial offences, including littering and loitering.
“Over the years, these tickets only made me feel like I was being punished for being poor and made me feel like even more of an outcast,” wrote Williams.
“The fines did nothing to change my behaviour. If anything, they just made my life less stable,” wrote Williams. “Since leaving the streets, the fines have been nothing but another barrier to recovery at times where I have been most at risk of returning to a life on the streets.”
Williams originally shared his story last June when the challenge was launched at a Queen’s Park news conference. At that time, he spoke with the Star about what he estimated were $10,000 in fines related to Safe Streets Act tickets, largely tied to panhandling as he battled addictions and tried to survive. He faced an additional $55,000 in fines related to provincial offences, including loitering, littering, drinking in public and trespassing.
“I could never pay $65,000 in fines, or $10,000 or even $100,” said Williams last year. He relied on Ontario Disability Support Payments, he told the Star. “I lived paycheque to paycheque.”
Williams has rebuilt his life, found work and sobriety. In 2016, a judge ruled that his debt should be eliminated and sentenced him to community service and probation.
But this January according to the affidavit, he was sent a letter claiming he still owed City of Toronto Court Services about $16,250. That was because of a clerical error — Court Services spelled his name “Jerry” on several tickets and fines related to those tickets had yet to be paid.
“Because of their mistake, I am now going to have to go through the long appeal process all over again for these fines,” in 2018, wrote Williams.