The Ontario Tory government slashed welfare, mental health budgets, social services and street-programs, then virtually eliminated rent-control, and the homeless population bloomed in Toronto and in Ontario’s other cities. Now, one of the Conservative leadership hopefuls has come up with the fantastically bright idea of making homelessness illegal as a means of curbing the unsightly mess caused by poor people freezing to death on the sidewalk. I imagine that next, he will announce his plan to deal with his critics by putting his hands over his ears and chanting “la la la la.”
[He] said he would pass a law to empower special constables to “offer alternatives” to the homeless.
Those options, he said, would include taking them to shelters, mental-health centres and hospitals or to detox or crisis intervention centres.
As “a last resort,” said Flaherty, who described his idea as a sign of “true compassion,” the homeless would be jailed.
(Thanks, Amanda!)