Advocates blast City of Barrie for greenlighting ban on donations

Advocates are blasting the City of Barrie for approving a slew of policies that, if put in place, could outlaw giving food or money to people in the city who are experiencing homelessness.

Advocates are blasting the City of Barrie for approving a slew of policies that, if put in place, could outlaw giving food or money to people in the city who are experiencing homelessness.

In a city council meeting Wednesday, councillors approved a range of policies that staff can consider and use to address rising homelessness, including changes to city bylaws that will prohibit the distribution of tents, tarps, food and groceries in public lands without a permit.

Staff were also directed to consider methods that would ban donations to panhandlers on city streets, intersections and highway ramps, opting to place signs discouraging the practice in favour of donating to service agencies instead.

Former councillor Keenan Aylwin says their approach will have the opposite effect of what's intended.

"It's trying to attack people experiencing homelessness and the people and organizations who have the compassion and the heart to actually help people in a time of need. It's looking at creating new bylaw offences for giving out food and groceries to people in need on the streets. It even includes wording that would create a bylaw offence if you give a toonie to a guy on a street corner,"Aylwin told CBC Toronto on Saturday.

"Instead of actually housing people and addressing the root causes of homelessness, this motion is going after the most vulnerable people in our community. It's a waste of public resources and it actually does nothing to address the root causes of the issue," Aylwin added.