By Andrea Cameron
The Ticket Defence Program (TDP) wants more tickets to fight in court.
The TDP is a volunteer organization that collects tickets issued to the homeless under the Safe Streets Act and defends them in court. The program was founded by Direct Action Casework Ottawa and Legal Support Ottawa.
According to the Ottawa Police Service, 1,063 tickets were issued under the Safe Streets Act in 2004, but the TDP estimates they only received 160 tickets, or about 15 per cent.
“We really need to find ways to get tickets into our system,” says John Hollingsworth, a program volunteer.
He says they have the capacity to deal with more tickets, and program volunteers are deciding if they can also take on appeals for homeless who have already been convicted.
The problem with attracting tickets, said one volunteer at a group meeting on Feb. 3, is the homeless are transient by nature.
Many are not in Ottawa long enough to hear about the program, despite volunteer presentations at drop-in centres and homeless shelters.
Tickets can be issued by the City of Ottawa, the National Capital Commission and OC Transpo for things such as aggressive panhandling, consuming alcohol in a public place or soliciting to a “captive audience,” meaning people at bus stops or waiting in line for an ATM.
Tickets are collected at three locations in Ottawa: Operation Go Home and two area drop-in centres at 216 Murray St. and 507 Bank St.
April Edwards, program co-ordinator at Operation Go Home, an organization that re-unites runaways with their families, says the program is popular among those who have heard of it.
“They’re more than happy to not have to deal with it,” she says.
“They like the idea of the possibility that someone will fight the ticket for them.”
But many of these tickets might not have to be fought at all. The Ontario Court of Appeal is preparing a decision on the constitutionality of the Safe Streets Act, and until a decision is reached these tickets are being adjourned to a later date.
Canada’s Vagrancy Law was repealed in 1972 for unfairly targeting the poor, leading some anti-poverty activists to argue that the Safe Streets Act is similarly flawed.
RCMP Const. Mark Horton has written a position paper on the Safe Streets Act. He says the Act is the source of a lot of anger toward police.
“A lot of people say, ‘Those bastard cops,’ but it’s not about that at all,” he says.
“[The Safe Streets Act] doesn’t outlaw panhandling, it just creates a few restrictions. It’s a tool we have just like any other piece of legislation trying to address something.”
One TDP volunteer says this legislative tool must be thrown away.
“The ultimate goal would be to repeal the Safe Streets legislation,” says Jennifer Copestake, a Carleton University student who volunteers as a court agent for the program.
“Giving homeless people $75 tickets? They don’t have money to pay. They don’t know where the court is. I don’t think that’s effective.”
Copestake adds the TDP should be taken seriously.
“The Crown are generally cooperative with us,” she says.
“They understand now at this point that we’ve come in so many times they see that we’re not going away.”