Begging For Change – Solutions to end the street-ticket cycle

To present practical solutions for dealing with tickets received by people who are street involved. We want all the actors, (social workers, prosecutors and police officers), to see the ticketing cycle from all angles and be able to navigate the process in a helpful way.

Our Keynote speaker (Justice Richard Schneider) is going to talk about the availability of alternative solutions to tickets, and how we can use the court as a positive tool in the process.

Our first panel of speakers will talk about motivations and interests. Police officers, social workers and prosecutors will describe what they want out of the process.

Our second panel of speakers, a Justice of the Peace, defence counsel, social worker and police officer, will talk about practical things that can be done to break the cycle – “diverting” charges and getting people into treatment or housing instead of a fine or jail.

The conference is happening the afternoon of June 29th, at Verity Club at 111D Queen Street East, Toronto  from 12:30 to 4:00.

Please RSVP to fairchangecs@gmail.com

How Much is the Safe Streets Act Really Costing Ontario?

There are 2 documents that can give us the answer. The first was published by the Government of Ontario, and it can be found here: (POA ConsultationPaper)

The Second is a Study published by professors from Guelph and York University and it can be found here: (CanISeeYourID).

The POA Consultation Paper tells us that there are approximately 1,650,000 Provincial Offence Act Charges (POA Charges) laid per year.

Thanks to the 2011 study we know that in 2011 there were 15,324 Safe Streets Act (SSA) charges laid. The study indicated that the number of SSA charges was increasing every year – but for the sake of argument lets estimate that the charges stayed steady at 2011 levels.

 MATH TIME: (15324/1650000)*100 = 0.93% or about 1%

About 1% of all Provincial Offence Charges are Safe Streets Act Charges

POA Consultation Paper tells us that about one quarter of all POA Charges are laid in Toronto and that Toronto POA Court Costs about $50 million dollars per year to run. This accounts for the buildings, the prosecutors and the administration staff. If we assume that Toronto is being about as fiscally responsible as the other cities in the Province we can estimate that POA Court costs the Province of Ontario $200 million per year.

MATH TIME: 1% of $200,000,000 = $2,000,000.

 The Ontario Safe Streets Act Costs Ontario $2 Million per year

 2 million dollars per year – and what are we getting for our money? With other POA Charges, like speeding, the cost is recouped when people pay their tickets. But SSA Tickets are Only given out to people who are on the street begging for money. The study shows that less than 1% of SSA tickets are ever paid, so almost none of that money is being recouped.

Time to put an end to this wasteful law!

Who We Help

Our clients are people who are street involved. This means people who are living, working, or spending a significant part of their time on the streets of Toronto.

Our clients may currently be sleeping on the street,  in shelters, in boarding homes or in supported or assisted housing. They may also have been living on the street in the past but are now in more stable living conditions. Many of our clients are recipients of ODSP or Ontario Works.

We will assist people who have been given provincial offence and TTC tickets like:

• Solicit on roadway
• Solicit near ATM
• Solicit near TTC
• TTC fare evasion
• Encumber the sidewalk
• Pedestrian fail to use crossway
• Pedestrian disobey signals
• Consume liquor in illegal place
• Enter premises when prohibited
• Solicit on TTC property
• Or other street tickets.

We do not assist with moving traffic violations, such as speeding tickets or driving without insurance.

Our Services

Our services are provided by law students from Osgoode Hall Law School. All law students are supervised by licensed lawyers with years of experience in this area of law. As a non-profit organization all of our services are 100% free to our clients.

RECENT TICKETS

We can help you with any tickets you have received within the last 30 days by:

• Explaining your legal options
• Negotiating with prosecutors on your behalf and
• Representing you at trial

OLD TICKETS

We can help you try to get rid of debt from tickets that are months or years old by:

• Explaining the appeal process
• Writing the letters and documents necessary for an appeal and
• Representing you in front of the Appeal Judge

SOCIAL WORKERS AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS

If you are a social worker, community organizer, advocate or activist with clients or connections with folks who could benefit from our services, feel free to contact us on their behalf by emailing farichangecs@gmail.com to learn more about what we do and how we may be able to help.

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