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FIRST PERSON | Poverty is not a crime — so why is Montreal still ticketing the unhoused? | CBC News
The problem isn't just bad law enforcement and profiling, writes law student Emily Knox. It's bad laws, too.
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Poverty is not a crime — so why is Montreal still ticketing the unhoused?
Municipal leaders should instead focus on providing secure, dignified housing
Last winter, I was part of a group of McGill University law students who launched a legal information clinic that operates next to Cabot Square in Montreal's central Shaughnessy Village neighbourhood.
The legal clinic, led by law students under the supervision of lawyers, seeks to improve access to justice for people experiencing homelessness in our city.
Each week, whether it is -40 C or a sweltering heat wave, we set up outdoors and offer support to unhoused community members navigating the justice system
People will often share their stories with us and, through their experiences, we have noticed an ongoing problem: unhoused Montrealers are being ticketed at alarming rates.
Most people who stop by the legal clinic have been ticketed for violating municipal bylaws, which govern how we use the public spaces which we all have the right to access. I often hear about hefty fines being issued to unhoused residents for minor infractions like loitering, being in a park after it's closed, consuming alcohol on public property or sleeping on benches. They are penalized for things that many of us do in the privacy of our own homes: sleeping, consuming alcohol and urinating.
Sleeping on a park bench can get you a fine of $60 — and up to $1,000 if it's a subsequent offence — fines that are given to people with no stable housing, who often have nowhere else to sleep. The scale of this issue is staggering: researchers found earlier this year that nearly 40 per cent of all tickets for bylaw infractions in Montreal are issued to people experiencing homelessness, despite accounting for less than one per cent of the population.
At the legal information clinic, we see the human effects of ticketing and punitive bylaws that stigmatize unhoused Montrealers. This pandemic has highlighted the many systemic barriers this community faces. But it has also shown that where there is political will, governments can make significant legislative and administrative changes at warp speed.
The unhoused community members I meet depend on public spaces like parks, Metro stations and sidewalks. They are resilient and resourceful, and they gather on public property as a way to keep themselves safe and to have a community.
However, occupying public spaces exposes them to heightened police surveillance. A pile of tickets later, and suddenly they are caught up in a justice system that is difficult to navigate, even for a law student.
The Quebec Human Rights Commission and other organizations have been asking the city to get rid of bylaws that punish people for being unhoused. The commission called over-ticketing in Montreal a systemic problem of social profiling. Montreal has taken some steps, like introducing a moratorium on sending people to prison for unpaid tickets and recommending its police be sensitive to the realities of life on the street. And yet, the number of tickets given to people with no stable housing has increased exponentially since the mid-1990s.
As a law student, I can't yet give legal advice or represent people in court, and bylaw infractions don't qualify for legal aid. But the justice system can't solve poverty; we can't ticket our way out of homelessness. We need systemic change. Bylaws are enacted by the municipality, and our elected leaders at city hall have the power to amend and remove bylaws that penalize unhoused Montrealers.
The problem isn't just bad law enforcement and profiling. It's bad laws that are harming marginalized community members. Instead of maintaining punitive bylaws, municipal leaders must do more to provide secure, dignified housing for all residents. This would be far more effective at maintaining public safety than ticketing people with no stable housing.
We are calling for more compassion and solidarity within our city. Everyone is deserving of dignity, respect and equal access to public spaces. It's time we stop this pointless ticketing.
As Montrealers prepare to vote on Nov. 7 for who will run this city, I'm urging our elected officials to make this issue a priority and rescind bylaws that penalize homelessness, because poverty is not a crime.
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poverty : the condigion of being extremely poor
fine : to charge someone an amount of money as a punishment for not obeying a rule or law (verb)
sweltering : extremely hot
at alarming rates : (to grow) so much that it is worrying or disturbing
hefty : large in amount or size
infractions : a breaking of a rule or law
loiter : to move slowly around or stand in a plublic place without an obvious reason
penalize : to punish someone, esp. for breaking the law a rule
urinate : to pass urine from the body (= pee)
staggering : very shocking and surprising
punitive : intended as a punishment
stigmatize : to treat someone or something unfairly by disapproving of him,her, or it
resilient : able to be happy, successful, etc. again after something difficult or bad has happened
surveillance : the careful watching of a person or place, especially by the police or army, because of a crime that has happened or is expected