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297The
Punitive Impact of Physical Distancing Laws on Homeless People
because they are confined spaces with poor air circulation.42 The sani-
tation risks in homeless shelters have only increased since the pan-
demic and have materialized in many cases. There have been major
COVID-19 outbreaks in homeless shelters in Toronto—the only avail-
able alternative to sleeping in public for many individuals without
access to housing.43 Homeless people therefore face the particularly
unpalatable choice of endangering their well-being in shelters or risk-
ing financial penalties for violating COVID-19-related laws.
Conclusion
Hegel once suggested that history teaches us that we learn nothing
from history.44 Canada’s legal responses to homelessness during
COVID-19 are part of a larger historical story about how coercion and
punishment cannot resolve society’s most persistent social problems.
Canadian cities are increasingly confronted with the choice between
employing a predominantly public health response to homelessness
during the pandemic or resorting to the criminal law and public wel-
fare offences. The pandemic is making homeless people’s lives immea-
surably more difficult and is exposing them to additional health risks.
All levels of government thus should choose to avoid coercive legal
responses to homelessness that entrench individuals in that condition.
More than ever, the state should use the law as a tool to lift individuals
out of extreme poverty and homelessness, improve access to afford-
able housing, and affirm homeless people’s dignity. Ultimately, the
state’s legal responses to homelessness both during and after COVID-
19 should be rooted in an enduring truism. Similar to how we cannot
police our way out of a pandemic, we cannot punish our way out of
homelessness.45 History shows this to be true.
42. See for example Kamran Khan et al, “Active Tuberculosis among Homeless
Persons, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1998-2007” (2011) 17:3 Emerging Infectious
Diseases 357.
43. The Canadian Press, “COVID-19 Spreads in Homeless Shelter, WHO Seeks
Funds”, National Post (25 April 2020), online: <nationalpost.com/pmn/news-
pmn/canada-news-pmn/covid-19-spreads-in-homeless-shelter-who-seeks-
funds-in-the-news-for-april-25>.
44. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, The Philosophy of HistoryÂ
(New York: Colonial
Press, 1900) at 6.
45. Alexander McClelland “We Cannot Police Our Way Out of a
Pandemic”, NOW (30 March 2020), online: <nowtoronto.com/news/
coronavirus-we-cant-police-our-way-out-of-pandemic/>.
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