Statement about Calgary's Public Behaviour Bylaw 54M2006

Statement

Those who accept the Public Behaviour Bylaw clearly don't understand the ramifications of it. The media has been concentrating on the innocuous aspects that we can all agree on: don't spit, don't fight, don't carry a knife.

The truth is, the parts of the bylaw about loitering and obstructing, putting feet up on a bench or public structure, and urinating or defecating in public are designed to put the homeless in jail. When you look closer, you see that they make it illegal to huddle, panhandle, sleep outside, and use the bathroom when no public washrooms are provided. The fines carried for these items ($300-$10,000) would be impossible for those less fortunate to pay; instead, they would face a jail sentence of up to six months.

In a time of extreme crisis, when there are not enough shelters or affordable housing and not enough being done by the City to provide these necessities, it is reprehensible and without conscience for City Council to decide that the solution to these problems is to create a bylaw that effectively gets rid of the homeless by putting them in jail.

As citizens, we can do much better for the poor in our community than to allow the City to do this to them. We must put a stop to it, and demand that the City move more quickly to provide more shelters andmore affordable housing in this time of crisis. With our petition and our protest on Monday November 20th, we will make our voices heard.

Laurie Fuhr
November 17 2006