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have no refuge from these laws. This makes it extremely difficult—if
not impossible—for homeless people to comply with certain laws that
govern public property.37
The second reason why COVID-19-related laws disproportion-
ately affect homeless people is rooted in the fact that police officers
enjoy particularly broad discretion when enforcing these laws. Before
the pandemic, homeless people were issued significant fines for con-
duct such as sleeping on a picnic table and sitting on the edge of a
water fountain. These financial penalties were imposed for the ambig-
uous offence of “us[ing] street furniture for a purpose other than the
one for which it is intended” (whatever that means).38 COVID-19 laws
generate similar concerns about the scope of police officers’ discre-
tion. In response to the pandemic, the Government of Quebec issued
an Order in Council that prohibits “outdoor assemblies,” even though
the decree does not define that term, leaving individual officers to
determine its meaning.39 Police have also encouraged individuals to
denounce others who disobey physical distancing guidelines.40 This
creates an added risk of discriminatory enforcement, especially given
how subconscious biases and prejudice can influence both individu-
als’ decisions to denounce others and officers’ discretion to enforce
fines. Furthermore, it adds to the harassment that many homeless
people already experience.41
Finally, the cumulative effect of quality-of-life offences and
COVID-19-related laws place many homeless people in the untenable
position of having to sleep in a shelter and expose themselves to the
virus, or risk receiving a fine for occupying public space. It is impor-
tant to note that even prior to the pandemic, many homeless shel-
ters had unsanitary conditions. There are many documented cases of
tuberculosis and other communicable disease outbreaks in shelters
37. Terry Skolnik, “Homelessness and the Impossibility to Obey the Law” (2016)
43:3 Fordham Urb LJ 741 at 750-76.
38. Ibid at 771; City of MontrĂ©al, by-law 99-102, By-LawÂ
Concerning Cleanliness andÂ
Protection of Public Property and Street Furniture (17 May 1999), s 20; Sylvestre &
Bellot, supra note 26 at 173.
39. OIC 222-2020, (2020) GOQ II, 771A (concerning renewal of the public healthÂ
emergency underÂ
section 119Â ofÂ
Public Health Act and certain measures to protect the
health of the population).
40. Luscombe & McClelland, supra note 11 at 4.
41. See for example Bill O’Grady, Stephen Gaetz & Kristy Buccieri, “Can I See
Your ID? The Policing of Youth Homelessness in Toronto” (2011) at 11, online
(pdf): Homelessness Hub <www.homelesshub.ca/sites/default/files/attachments/
CanISeeYourID_nov9.pdf>.
VULNERABLE
The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Titel
- VULNERABLE
- Untertitel
- The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Autoren
- Vanessa MacDonnell
- Jane Philpott
- Sophie Thériault
- Sridhar Venkatapuram
- Verlag
- Ottawa Press
- Datum
- 2020
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 9780776636429
- Abmessungen
- 15.2 x 22.8 cm
- Seiten
- 648
- Kategorien
- Coronavirus
- International