Safe Streets Act

Panhandling fines in Salmon Arm make things worse for B.C. homeless population

By: Kelly Chia, Staff Writer Step a few blocks outside of SFU’s Vancouver or Surrey campuses, and Metro Vancouver’s homeless crisis becomes painfully obvious.  The uncertainty of living day to day without stable housing is stressful enough. Yet by-laws have been introduced to punish homeless people further, like the recent $50 fine in Salmon Arm (the latest region to enforce B.C.’s Safe Streets Act) for panhandling curbside, within 15 metres of a bank machine, in a car, or within a public plaza.  Instead of squeezing money from those who might not even have it, we need to focus on finding permanent…

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