The results of a recent province wide poll suggest that Ontarians broadly reject the use of the “Safe Streets Act” and policing as an effective way of dealing with homelessness. In fact, a strong majority of Ontarians (56%) reject the Safe Streets Act, while only one quarter (26%) support this law.

Instead, Ontarians argue for better access to affordable housing, employment, mental health and addictions supports and an investment in prevention so that people don’t become homeless in the first place.  It is clear that the use of policing and ticketing is the least preferred option for addressing homelessness. 

The poll was conducted by Mainstreet Technologies on behalf of the Coalition for the Repeal of Ontario’s Safe Streets Act (CROSSA). On February 22, 2015, 2,797 Ontario residents were interviewed by Interactive Voice Response.  This poll carries a margin of error of +/- 1.85%, 19 times out of 20. 

The Ontario Safe Streets Act or SSA is a provincial law in Ontario (S.O. 1999, CH. 8).  The SSA came into effect in 2000 in response to the growing number of visibly homeless individuals in cities across the province during the 1990s. The SSA is designed to address panhandling, squeegeeing and other forms of solicitation undertaken in an “aggressive manner … a manner that is likely to cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety and security”.  Unfortunately, the language of the act is rather vague, giving law enforcement officials broad discretion in its application. 

After fifteen years, it is time to review and repeal this Act.  The Coalition for the Repeal of Ontario’s Safe Streets Act (CROSSA) has argued that the Act is unnecessary and unjust. The Coalition is made up of ten member organizations including the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness (York University), Justice for Children and Youth, and many individual Ontarians, including former Ontario Attorney General, Michael Bryant.

Dr. Stephen Gaetz, Director of the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, suggests it is time to repeal what is essentially a bad and discriminatory law:

“The Safe Streets Act is an example of the worst kind of approach to addressing homelessness.  Rather than provide people with housing and the supports they need, we give people who are living in extreme poverty tickets they cannot pay.  This kind of law essentially criminalizes homelessness, rather than address a real problem.  Our own research has shown that in Toronto alone, over 67,000 SSA tickets were issued between 2000 and 2010, amounting to over four million dollars of debt for homeless persons. Moreover, the minimum cost of issuing these tickets is over a million dollars. These costs have been incurred by the City for the collection of only $8,086.56 in fines paid over that same period. So, not only is this a bad law, it is a waste of taxpayers’ money.”

OTHER QUOTES:

“Ontarians think this a bad law.  Liberals should scrap it.”  

Michael Bryant, former Ontario Attorney General

“Politely asking people for help shouldn’t ever be illegal, but in Ontario it is. That’s horrible and it’s clear from this poll that people in Ontario want a change”. 

Joanna Nefs, Barrister and Solicitor, Fair Change Community Services

“This law is punitive and damaging, it doesn’t protect us from any actual harm, but it does do harm to the poorest of the poor in our communities”.

Mary Birdsell, Justice for Children and Youth
 

DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT: http://www.homelesshub.ca/SSA-poll-results