According to the Wellesley Institute blog, the Toronto City Council's Executive Committee has adopted a panhandling strategy that ensures panhandlers have access to housing, supports and income. This buckles the trend of legislation that has tried to criminalize panhandling including Ontario's Safe Streets Act and BC's Safe Street Act.

In 2007, the city conducted a Panhandling Pilot Project (in PDF) to provide social services to people panhandling and to educate the public about urban poverty. The pilot project found that generally panhandling was unobtrusive, that many panhandlers experienced social isolation and loathed the fact that they had to panhandle. The project also found that an intensive social service response was more successful then criminalization. You can read a personal story about the Panhandling Pilot Project on the Toronto City website - "A story to tell : Retirement from Adelaide and York".

The Toronto city council is proposing a bylaw to outlaw panhandling in tourist areas but according to a short legal outline by the Wellesley Institute, Are the poor allowed to ask for help? an anti-panhandling bylaw might not be legal. Read the Toronto Disaster Relief press release below.

Toronto Disaster Relief Press Release

Re: New bylaw proposal to prohibit panhandling in Toronto tourist areas

No economic apartheid zones in Toronto!!!

Councillor Case Ootes who makes $95,000 a year as a Toronto city councillor is trying to get a bylaw passed which would prohibit poor people from asking for economic help in “tourist areas”.
If this discriminatory bylaw is passed at committee it will then be voted on at City Council by a large group of $95,000 a year councillors and a $160,000 mayor.

“If it passed at Council this bylaw would certainly be met by a Charter challenge,” said Beric German of the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee. “As well, a huge political battle would ensue and tourists and many others would get to see that Torontonians don’t take attacks on poor people lightly.”

“It should be noted that councillors get a portion of their hefty salaries from taxes emanating from the tourist trade. Are they now going to be asked to make a decision as to whether the poorest of the poor can ask a tourist to top up their meagre or non-existent income?” asked German.

“Is Councillor Ootes trying to make Toronto one of the most shameful cities in the industrialized world?” asked Cathy Crowe of the TDRC.

For information: Cathy Crowe / Beric German - 416-599-8372

Vancouver mayor, Sam Sullivan, has launched the Project Civil City to address "public disorder." According to the mayor the goals of the project are to eliminate homelessness, the open drug market, and aggressive panhandling. But instead of allocating funds to social housing, the mayor wants to allocate at least $1 million from the proposed Olympic Legacy Fund to fund new bylaw officers to give tickets to homeless people, panhandlers and binners. Read an article about on the Tyee, called "Mayor Sullivan's Big Ambitions" and watch a humourous video of a protest against the Civil City initiaive.

The Safe Streets Act affects many people, including panhandlers, squeegee kids, street vendors and charity fundraisers. Abrochure published by the Legal Services Society, BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the BC Civil Liberties Association, contains information about rights under this law. Download the BCPIAC Safe Streets brochure (in PDF).

Halifax agencies are organizing to protest the act because it targets low income individuals. "The Provincial legislation with the stated purpose of promoting safety on the streets by controlling aggressive solicitation or panhandling. While loosely defining “aggressive solicitation,” the Act leaves discretion in the hands of the enforcing officer, and allows police to act without complaint." See Halifax Coalition Against Poverty statements and an Indymedia story on a creative related protest. See the City of Halifax minutes recommending the City of Nova Scotia adopt a Safe Streets law and a copy of the proposed Safe Streets Act legislation.

Anti-poverty groups are fighting against the Halifax city council's proposed law to fine and arrest aggressive panhandlers. They argue that this law will criminalize the poor instead of help make streets safer. Due to the reaction of anti-poverty groups and the discomfort of some city councellors, the whether or not the law will be ratified is up to the Government of Nova Scotia. More information is available in the CBC story, "Activists shout down panhandling proposal news story."

Federated Anti-Poverty Groups of BC, End Legislated Poverty, and the National Anti-Poverty Organization v. Vancouver (City of). The BC Supreme Court rejected the groups' challenge of the City of Vancouver's anti-panhandling by-law. The record of the BC supreme Court case is available online.

The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) and other groups are supporting a group of panhandlers in Toronto who have been charged with violating the new Safe Streets Act. The panhandlers are taking the Ontario government to court over the act, which they claim is not compatible with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The lawyer for the defendants is arguing that certain sections of the Act violate people's freedoms of expression and discriminate against poor people. (From NAPO News.)

On March 6, 2001 the City of Vancouver repealed By-law 7885 - A By-law to Regulate and Control Panhandling. It then amended the Street and Traffic By-law to prohibit "Obstructive Solicitation." This By-law is less restrictive than the old one but it still is aimed at panhandling. The BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre will continue its challenge but it is now against the Street and Traffic By-law. The hearing is currently scheduled for March 19, 2001 but on March 12 the City of Vancouver will be making a court application to adjourn the hearing.

The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) and other groups are supporting a group of panhandlers in Toronto who have been charged with violating the new Safe Streets Act. The panhandlers are taking the Ontario government to court over the act, which they claim is not compatible with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The lawyer for the defendants is arguing that certain sections of the Act violate people's freedoms of expression and discriminate against poor people (from NAPO News, September 2000).

In a move which recognized that discrimination against poor people will no longer be tolerated, Winnipeg City Council passed a new by-law today on "obstructive solicitation" which made no reference to panhandling. The by-law, which replaces a former anti-panhandling by-law, was accepted by the National Anti-Poverty Organization, a group which had legally challenged the panhandling by-law for its violation of poor people's rights to free expression and to equal treatment under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. For more information read the NAPO press release.

For immediate release
September 20, 2000

In a move which recognized that discrimination against poor people will no longer be tolerated, Winnipeg City Council passed a new by-law today on “obstructive solicitation” which made no reference to panhandling. The by-law, which replaces a former anti-panhandling by-law, was accepted by the National Anti-Poverty Organization, a group which had legally challenged the panhandling by-law for its violation of poor people's rights to free expression and to equal treatment under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Laurie Rektor, NAPO's Executive Director, pointed out that this victory signals a new trend, one that shows an increasing recognition of poor people's rights in Canada. “Our political and legal representatives are beginning to realize that the rights of low-income Canadians must be protected in order to create a just and democratic society. There is growing recognition that poor people experience discrimination as a group, and that this situation cannot continue. The tide is certainly beginning to turn.”

There is a growing body of evidence that indicates that the recognition of poor people's rights is becoming firmly established:

• the recommendation by the Canadian Human Rights Act Review Panel that 'social condition' be recognized in the Act as one of the prohibited grounds for discrimination
• the introduction of federal access-to-banking legislation into the House of Commons in June, which will ensure that employment and an initial minimum balance are no longer conditions for opening a bank account
• the recent announcement in Manitoba that families receiving social assistance would no longer have the National Child Benefit clawed back
• the decision this month that landlords in Ontario may no longer refuse to rent to low income households which would be paying more than 30% of their income on rent

Ms. Rektor noted that the cumulative impact of these decisions could be enormous. “If this trend continues, it will mark a sea change in how Canadians and our public institutions view poor people,” she argued. “As each barrier is brought down, the potential for poor people to participate as full and equal members of society is closer to being fully realized.”

NAPO has been working to end discrimination against poor people since its inception in 1971. The organization is currently involved with a challenge to a similar panhandling by-law in the City of Vancouver. That challenge is expected to go to court on January 15, 2001.

For more information, contact:
Laurie Rektor, Executive Director, at (613) 789-0096
Michael Conner, Legal Counsel, at (204) 985-5220

n a move which recognized that discrimination against poor people will no longer be tolerated, Winnipeg City Council passed a new by-law today on "obstructive solicitation" which made no reference to panhandling. The by-law, which replaces a former anti-panhandling by-law, was accepted by the National Anti-Poverty Organization, a group which had legally challenged the panhandling by-law for its violation of poor people's rights to free expression and to equal treatment under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

In a move which recognized that discrimination against poor people will no longer be tolerated, Winnipeg City Council passed a new by-law today on "obstructive solicitation" which made no reference to panhandling. The by-law, which replaces a former anti-panhandling by-law, was accepted by the National Anti-Poverty Organization, a group which had legally challenged the panhandling by-law for its violation of poor people's rights to free expression and to equal treatment under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The National Anti-Poverty Organization's paper Short Changed on Human Rights: A NAPO Position Paper on Anti-panhandling Laws (in PDF) includes up-to-date information on panhandling bylaws in different municipalities in Canada.

A challenge to the City of Vancouver by-law controlling panhandling was commenced in 1998 by the BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC). PIAC wanted to bring the action in the name of someone who had been ticketed, which is normally required by the courts. However, they were unable to find an individual who had been given a ticket as the police weren’t ticketing but using the threat of a ticket to stop persons from panhandling. PIAC therefore commenced an action in the names of federated anti-poverty groups (“fapg”), End Legislated Poverty (“ELP”), and National Anti-Poverty Organization (“NAPO”). The grounds of the challenge are that PIAC believes that the by-law is a violation of the freedom of speech provisions in s. 2 by preventing the use of the streets by panhandlers, the life, liberty and security of the person provisions in s. 7 by preventing persons from making a living and the equality provisions in s. 15 in that this by-law predominantly affects poor persons. PIAC has also alleged that the City of Vancouver has no authority for the making of such a by-law under the Vancouver Charter and that the by-law is an infringement into criminal law power, which is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government.

Parties had instructed PIAC to commence action but not bring the action to court until after the Winnipeg challenge, which was expected to go ahead in fall, 1999.

In the meantime, an individual panhandler in BC was given a ticket. To PIAC's knowledge, this was the first panhandler who has been given a ticket. PIAC met with his lawyer to determine whether their three groups could intervene in their court action. When the Crown was notified that there would be a challenge to the law, they dropped the charges.

Accordingly, PIAC has now received instructions from their client groups to set the matter down for hearing as soon as possible and not to wait for the outcome of the Winnipeg challenge. The challenge will be heard in the spring of 2000. In February 2000, similar challenges will take place in Ottawa and Winnipeg.

Vancouver's municipal bylaw was enacted in August 1998 to "regulate and control panhandling" near banks, automated teller machines, bus stops or entrances to liquor stores. The bylaw prohibits panhandling at anytime from sunset to sunrise, forbids the activity with people stopped at traffic, and makes it illegal to sit on the street to panhandle. The bylaw calls for a fine of "not more than $2,000 and not less than $100 for each offence."

-- from In The Public Interest, BC PIAC's newsletter, June, 1999

On April 30, 1998, the Council of the City of Vancouver unanimously passed By-law No. 7885: A Bylaw to Regulate and Control Panhandling. The by-law restricts panhandling by time, place and method -- specifically, it must occur within a minimum distance of 10 metres from certain institutions (banks, ATMs, liquor stores), is prohibited between sunset and sunrise and from motor vehicle occupants, and must not be conducted from a seated or prone position.

BC PIAC will represent the National Anti-Poverty Organization, End Legislated Poverty and federated anti poverty groups of bc in a challenge ot the by-law on jurisdictional and Charter grounds.

The five grounds on which the by-law will be challenged are that:

i) the Vancouver Charter lacks authority to regulate the time, place and method of panhandling;
ii) the Vancouver Charter lacks authority to discriminate between classes of individuals;
iii) the by-law violates s. 2 Charter rights to freedom of expression by prohibiting free speech of persons in public places;
iv) the by-law violates s. 7 Charter rights to life, liberty and security of the person by denying certain classes of individuals the ability to provide for the necessaries of life, and subjecting a person in default of a fine to incarceration;
v) the by-law violates s. 1 Charter equality rights by its disproportionate effect on persons who may be characterized by homelessness, mental illness or disability, addiction, or poverty.

Aside from the legal grounds, the by-law is an attack on one of the most disadvantaged groups in society. The problems currently faced by the poor and homeless are certainly complex and in need of an integrated approach in order to solve them. The by-law is counter productive in that it will add to the problems faced by the poor. Panhandlers will be subjected to humiliation when the po,ice harass them, fine them, threaten to fine them and require them to move from their locations.The aim of the by-law is to surrender ot the wishes of business and place their interests over the interest of poor people. Obviously, a poor person begging for money is a terrible sight. We agree but advocate that City Council should be looking at how to solve the problem, rather than mask it and move the problem down the street.

Although a court date has not yet been set, it is expected that this matter will be heard after the challenge of the Winnipeg panhandling by-law NAPO is participating in.