By Pepper Parr
September 10th,2019
BURLINGTON, ON
What do you think about this one?
Police in Burlington don’t ticket pan handlers – there is nothing illegal about begging for money.
The police being able to give you a ticket for pausing to give some money to a pan handler at an intersection.
Mayor Meed Ward said her understanding was that this could be done. The ticket would be for distracted driving where a ticket comes in at as much as $1000.
From the provincial web site:
Most drivers caught, talking, texting, dialing or emailing on a handheld device will be fined up to $1,000 — more than double the current fine. Additional penalties include a three-day licence suspension and three demerit points. And that’s just the beginning. December 31, 2018
Council didn’t like the idea of signs – but they want to do something about the problem.
The idea landed on the table during a discussion of signs directing people to not give money to people pan handling but rather direct those people to agencies that can help.
Council agreed to a recommendation that would make use of City Talk, an insert that appears in a print newspaper and using social media to educate the public.
More on this later in the week.
To “..direct those people to agencies that can help…” would require much more driver involvement and “distraction” than merely handing money to a panhandler while stopped for a traffic light. Ticketing a driver for giving would punish a charitable act.
There must be a better way to solve this problem – if it is the problem and not simply a symptom of one.