A new ticket defence program at the Centretown Community Health Centre gives legal assistance to people fined for panhandling or similar infractions who might otherwise go without help.
Every second Tuesday of each month, volunteers from the University of Ottawa law program offer free advice at the Ottawa Mission on Waller Street and the health centre on Cooper Street.
The initiative focuses on offences such as panhandling, public possession of open liquor and illegal camping – tickets that are often handed to street-involved or homeless people.
A recent report from the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa says more than 6,500 people used emergency shelters in the city in 2013. Slightly more than 1,000 of those people were dependants under the age of 18.
University of Ottawa law professor Suzanne Bouclin, director of the ticket defence program, says it is best if people challenge their tickets as soon as possible because after 15 days an automatic guilty plea is submitted to the courts. Fines increase after a conviction and go to a collection agency after two months of non-payment. After the 15-day period passes a default fee of $20 is also applied to the tickets which already range from $75 to $150.
Those who are working to end homelessness in Ottawa say the option of paying these tickets is not a reality for the homeless.
“For someone who is marginally housed that could very well be . . . the tip that brings somebody over the edge in terms of whether they can afford housing,” says Mike Bulthuis, executive director of the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa.
Most of the tickets the program defends fall under the Safe Streets Act. Introduced in 1999, the act makes “aggressive panhandling” a ticketable offence. She says the “ticketing of street-involved and homeless people or otherwise marginalized people is a form of social profiling.”
Ottawa Police use their discretion when responding to calls regarding Safe Streets Act offences, says Staff Sgt. Atallah Sadaka. He says officers can explain the nature of the offence being committed or offer advice about services that can help the individual. The force responds to public complaints and deals with repeat offenders, but Sadaka says first time offenders can be a challenge.
“You may deal with somebody for the very first time and they could be aggressive to the officer, not showing any kind of remorse for the activities they’re doing,” he says.