Research conservatively estimates that 35,000 Canadians experience homelessness on any given night, with an average of one person sleeping outdoors for every five individuals staying in a shelter.
As an occupational therapist with front-line experience working on a community mental health team in Toronto, I have witnessed peoples’ daily battles with discrimination, surveillance and policing. And my experiences have taught me that compassion in Canada often depends on who you are or how you are perceived.
For example, the Ontario Safe Streets Act is meant to keep citizens safe from “aggressive solicitation,” but in practice, enforcement of this act targets those who are visibly poor.
by Charlie Smith on March 14th, 2021 at 7:59 AM 1 of 1 2 of 1
Some very poor people in Surrey are saying enough is enough.
After repeated seizures of their possessions by police and bylaw officers, they held a rally outside the Surrey Urban Mission Society office in Whalley earlier this month.
They ve alleged that the City of Surrey steals from the homeless . When police or bylaw officers steal our belongings, they try to blame us by calling us disorderly or aggressive, or by saying we are moving too slowly or have too much stuff, a pamphlet declares that was distributed at the event.