Vagrancy Laws In Canada

A historical example of the use of enforcement and regulation of the poor is vagrancy laws. Emerging in England, vagrancy laws were prominent in 1349 after the Black Death resulted in a significant labour shortage (Esmonde, 2002). Legislation was enacted at this time to protect landowners by ensuring wages remained reasonable, making the refusal of work a criminal offence for the able-bodied, and restricting the solicitation of alms (Esmonde, 2002). According to Esmonde (2002), this was the beginning of criminalizing able-bodied individuals who were unemployed – the 'undeserving ', while providing relief to those unable to work due disability, age, or mobility – the 'deserving '. In Canada, vagrancy laws still existed at the time of

Although Canada had seen increased poverty rates and a heavier reliance on casual workers, the erosion of income security programs and changes to unemployment insurance were occurring (Esmonde, 2002). The provincial government led by Premier Mike Harris of the Progressive Conservative Party Ontario utilized a neoliberal approach to social welfare policy when cutting welfare benefits by 21.6% in 1995 (Esmonde, 2002; O 'Grady et al., 2011). Squeegeeing in Toronto emerged during this time (Esmonde,

The City of Toronto proposed a two pronged approach to address youth homelessness and squeegeeing (Parnaby, 2003). Firstly, a training program called the Squeegee Working Youth Mobilization (SWYM) project was developed with the aim to provide employment skills and alternatives to squeegeeing and panhandling (O 'Grady et al., 2011). City Council approved the $250,000 SWYM project with financial assistance from the Federal government (Parnaby, 2003). Secondly, the City requested that the Ontario government pass new legislation to give police more power over the income-generating practices of these youth (O 'Grady et al., 2011). City Council requested that the Government of Ontario develop legislation to restrict and prohibit squeegeeing and panhandling before moving forward with implementing the SWYM project (Parnaby, 2003). In late 1999, the Government of Ontario, led by Premier Mike Harris, drafted this requested legislation which included changes to the Ontario Highway Traffic Act and the proposed Safe Streets Act (Parnaby, 2003). Mike Harris was Premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and was the leader of the provincial Progressive Conservative Pary (Esmonde, 2002). The SSA was passed by the Ontario legislature and received royal assent from the Lieutenant Governor on December 14, 1999. It came into force officially on January 31, 2000 (O 'Grady et al., 2011;