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Poverty In Canada Essay

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It is generally accepted that poverty is a serious social problem in Canada, and one of its most obvious indicators is homelessness (Chappell, 2014). However, the practice of 'squeegeeing ' among entrepreneurial homeless youth in Toronto during the 1990s reveals that social welfare policy development did not address poverty and homelessness sufficiently at that time. In response to concerns about the income-generating practices of youth who are homeless, the Government of Ontario passed the Safe Streets Act (SSA) in 1999. The provincial government designed the SSA to regulate and eliminate indicators of poverty in public places, including squeegeeing and panhandling, rather than address the root causes of this social problem (Esmonde, 2002). The implementation of the SSA is detrimental to vulnerable individuals affected by poverty and homelessness in Ontario because it aims to enforce regulations rather than create valuable community supports and social programs. While squeegeeing and panhandling has decreased since the implementation of the SSA, a reliance on policing and the criminal justice system to enforce the SSA results in what O 'Grady, Gaetz, and Buccieri (2011) refer to as the "criminalization of …show more content…

The issue of poverty is multifaceted and far too broad to address in this paper, but it is important to understand its connection to social policy like the SSA. According to Chappell (2014), "poverty has no single official or universally accepted definition; every country has a different view of poverty and, even within the same country, people 's views on poverty change over time" (p. 239). Although it is hard to define, poverty is deeply entrenched in the development, implementation, and public response to Ontario 's passing of the SSA in

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“Poverty must not be a bar to learning and learning must be an escape from poverty” this was said by Lyndon B Johnson in 1964 and the problem he was addressing back then, has grown and become far larger and more destructive. The average Canadian student acquires 27,000$ of debt trying to earn what in our society today is necessary, to live a safe, happy and fulfilling life. Without higher education you are not likely to be able to do what you want with your life. Within the last two decades university prices have doubled and along with it so have interest rates. This enforces and maintains the trend of the rich staying rich and the poor staying poor; because of the high price less wealthy people are unlikely to be able to afford university and get a good job.

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The homelessness problem in Winnipeg is no easy fix. We want to see change with our homeless community, but how we do that is the question most can not figure out. Winnipeg homeless are struggling with finding support individually, as the focus is always on our shelters as a whole like Brian Pincott said in an interview with The Winnipeg Free Press. “The focus has been more around the big projects, more around business and less around people,” he says. “The big signature projects, as opposed to what livability actually means (Pincott, B)”.

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In 1999 Ontario implemented a legislation called the Safe Streets Act (SSA). This legislation prohibited “aggressive panhandling”, solicitation of captive audience and unsafe disposal of needles, condoms and broken glass. (O’Grady, Gaetz and Buccieri 2013) In this paper, I argue that the SSA exacerbates the problem of youth homelessness by creating barriers against integration into mainstream society. These barriers are created through economic sanctions and processes of criminalization.

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The issue of homelessness in America has been evident since the early 1600’s. Across the country men, women and children spend their nights on the streets not knowing when or if they will ever find a permanent home. States and federal officials or city councils have tried to alleviate or at least reduce the number of homeless over the last several decades at a city, state or national level but it continues to be an ongoing problem. There is a multitude of factors that account for the growing homeless population that affects each state in the country differently. Though there are many contributing factors that contribute to the amount of people living on the street at any given night in the U.S.

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Homelessness is a very prevalent issue worldwide, with millions living on the streets or in inadequate housing. According to the United Nations, around 1.6 billion people struggle with inadequate housing and living conditions worldwide. In the United States alone, the number of homeless people is estimated to be over 580,000, with even more experiencing homelessness at some point during the year (National Alliance to End Homelessness). Criminalization is an increasingly popular approach to solving this issue. However, this response fails to address the root causes of homelessness and instead punishes individuals for being unable to afford necessities such as housing.

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