I grabbed him by his jacket and as I began to pull him with me in front of the streetcar, I said, "Go ahead, I'll take you with me." The third cop took me over to the sidewalk. What have you done?" A streetcar came along and the black cop said he was going to throw me in front of it. The first cop asked, "Why don't you do something useful with your life?" My reply was, "I've provided over 2000 man years of employment in this city. But the government, in its efforts to criminalize poverty, passed the Safe Streets Act, making it illegal.Ī few years ago, I was working (panhandling) when 3 bicycle cops stopped to give me a ticket. This allowed me to support my addiction, and myself, without turning to crime. I began panhandling to cars to supplement my income. It was clear that I had no human rights because I was judged as being less than human.ĭuring the 10 years I was on the streets, welfare for homeless singles, which was euphemistically renamed Ontario Works, was set at $195.00 per month. They did not interview me or the other eyewitness. After a year, I was notified that the complaint had been investigated and no grounds were found to pursue the matter. A legal clinic helped me to lodge a complaint against the officer. Once, a friend and I watched a sergeant from 14 Division douse my squat and all my possessions with gasoline and set it on fire. Thus began 10 years of locating a place to shelter me and store my possessions, only to be found out within a short time and forced to move along. I found an empty garage before Christmas during the worst winter Toronto had seen for 50 years. Can you imagine trying to sleep with the sounds of 50 men talking, laughing, crying, coughing and farting as a constant background, or my concerns about catching their diseases or bugs? It only took a few days to choose the relative freedom of the streets. We slept in a room with 50 other men in beds two feet apart. If we did not return by a specific time, we lost our bed and our possessions were thrown out within three days. After lunch, we were sent back to the streets, until supper. After breakfast, we were thrown out, regardless of the weather, until lunch. I tried living in a shelter, but the conditions were unacceptable. Within 2 years, I was bankrupt and living on welfare. My girlfriend introduced me to crack cocaine and that was the beginning of my downfall. A man spends ten years on the street but never loses his entrepreneurial spirit
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