By Jennifer Irving
Vendors in Ottawa could be selling goods in designated areas come summertime, if the city passes a proposed bylaw limiting them to certain zones.
According to Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes, these designated areas would help to improve the streets of Ottawa by restricting vending areas, while providing merchants with a ticket-free zone to sell their merchandise.
Holmes said the designated zones, raised at a Feb. 8 Homelessness Task Force meeting, wouldn’t just apply to established street vendors. They would also apply to homeless people selling newspapers or souvenirs on the street in exchange for donations.
Since the Safe Streets Act was implemented in 2002, there have been numerous tickets given to homeless people caught panhandling or selling items in areas prohibited in the act.
“The whole point of this bylaw was to have designated space on our sidewalks,” for people to sell goods without being ticketed under the Safe Streets Act, said Holmes.
Some people believe this bylaw is an infringement on their personal rights.
Dennis Panashoniak, who lives at The Mission housing shelter on Waller Street and was at the Feb. 8 meeting, said the country’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedoms and the right to vend is a given because the streets are public property.
He said it’s time for politicians to acknowledge these rights and do more about getting people off the streets instead of enforcing more rules on the homeless.
“We are punished, if we can’t pay our rent or be a part of the system, we are punished, and the punishment is to go to the streets,” he said at the Homelessness Task Force meeting last week.
Holmes said designating safe zones for vending isn’t an infringement on rights, but instead would actually allow people to vend more freely.
“Sorry, but otherwise you’ll continue to get tickets,” she said in response.
Holmes would like to see permanent space for vendors to sell goods without more tickets being issued.
“I want a permanent location for vending that is in accordance to panhandlers selling newspapers and other goods,” says Holmes.
The draft bylaw that was read at the Homelessness Task Force meeting has been sent back to the drawing boards.
Many in attendance, including Holmes, felt the bylaw’s provision on 15-minute time limits for selling newspapers in designated spots was unacceptable.
Although designated space may sound like a plausible solution, some say it will cause nothing but problems.
John Dunn, an employee at the Foster Care Council of Canada, said youth rejected from the foster care system often end up on the streets, where they’re forced to panhandle or sell goods for money.
While he appreciates efforts to protect the homeless from being ticketed under the Safe Streets Act, he says he thinks creating designated spots for vending and panhandling could result in people swarming the zones to compete for money from passersby.
“Zoned spaces could cause problems with panhandlers. Why not zone out spaces where you can’t vend or panhandle?” he said.
Jane Scharf, an advocate for the homeless, said the task force needs to create committees to look into potential safe zone areas and help the by-law drafting process. “There should be subcommittees established to discuss the designation of areas for vending,” she said.
The bylaw will be discussed at a committee meeting in the late spring and will likely be voted on this summer.
Holmes said it’s integral safe zones are created.
“We have to have designated spots for vending,” she said.