Stamp On Tramps

Von

TORONTO (CP) - Homelessness would become a crime if Jim Flaherty wins his bid to become premier of Ontario, a proposal that even a fellow Tory called disgusting.

Saying it's "not acceptable" to live on the streets, the architect of the province's anti-panhandling law said Thursday that such legislation would "virtually eliminate homelessness." "It will be illegal to live in public places, on the streets and in the parks," Flaherty told a huddle of reporters as an icy wind whipped the street corner in one of the wealthiest spots in the country.

"Living on the streets is not an option. Call it tough love."

Dressed in a bomber jacket sporting a Molson logo, the finance minister said he would pass a law to empower special constables to "offer alternatives" to the homeless.

Those options, he said, would include taking them to shelters, mental-health centres and hospitals or to detox or crisis intervention centres.

As "a last resort," said Flaherty, who described his idea as a sign of "true compassion," the homeless would be jailed.

Flaherty's proposal stunned leadership rival Elizabeth Witmer, who called it heartless and misguided.

"I find his plan absolutely disgusting; it is inhumane and it is totally lacking in compassion," said Witmer.

"It will force the homeless into hiding, and we'll find them in the spring."

Opposition critics called the proposal mean-spirited and a criminalization of the poor.

"How much affordable housing could we build for what he's prepared to do to have these round-up squads?" said Liberal David Caplan.

"Isn't that amazing that a jail cell is fine but permanent affordable housing is not?"

A few metres from where Flaherty spoke, 45-year-old John Stanidis sat on a crate on the sidewalk on busy University Avenue planning a future as a full-time fitter-welder, his sign silently begging for spare change.

"Most of the guys are just trying to survive," said Stanidis.

The father of three, who is separated from his wife, said he's been homeless for two or three years and "moving around" trying to find a job.

While welfare gives him an emergency allowance of $195 a month, it's not nearly enough to cover the first and last month's rent demanded by most landlords.

It's hard to know exactly how many people live on the streets in Toronto, although tens of thousands of people use shelters each year, more than 6,000 of them children.

Advocates estimate that as many as 40 per cent of the homeless have mental illnesses, while family breakdowns, immigrants who lose sponsorship support and people leaving jails add to the population.

Even though several people freeze to death each winter, many opt for the frigid streets because they don't like overcrowded shelters or find them dangerous, say advocates, who hand out blankets in winter.

While it's good to provide blankets and help street people, Flaherty said, "we need to go a step further and really try to solve this problem" although he was unable to say how much his proposal would cost.

Flaherty, who made his name as attorney general with his so-called "anti-squeegee" legislation, has also promised to limit welfare, slashed by the Mike Harris government in 1995, to two years out of five.

Beric German of the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee denounced Flaherty's proposals.

"He had every opportunity to build housing for people and to bring money in for supports for people who needed supports. Instead, they were driven into the streets," said German.

"The housing that they had was unaffordable. Welfare is not high enough to afford most of the housing. There's a major housing crisis."

Flaherty did acknowledge that affordable housing is a problem and said the government is working on that, but said he wouldn't wait to implement his anti-homelessness legislation.

"You define what is sleeping, you define what an overnight use is, and then you make it illegal," he said.

The Canadian Press, 2002
  
02/14/2002 16:30 EST

Sand

His political funeral.

DadaKopf

Awwww. Shame Robert Nozick died there this month, he'd have had a field day about this!

He saw homeless people as the last great threat to libertarianism because they don't own any property. He thought they should be given land just so they could join the rat race and not make it so hard for the Reaganites and Thatcherites!

Hehehe.