Our city’s Safe Streets Act doesn’t deal with poverty

This article was published in the Ryerson Free Press, February 2009 issue. Here’s a look at panhandling and the Safe Streets Act in Toronto. The city needs a better way to deal with real poverty.

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(photo originally on: http://therandomizer.wordpress.com)

A Look at OCAP that defies stereotypes

Published in February 2009, for the Ryerson Free Press.

At the office of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), three desks are squished together in a bunker-like room without windows. Three metal filing cabinets are labelled “Immigration”, “OCAP”, and “Organization History.” A pile of protest banners leans against the wall. The walls are plastered with posters such as: “Fight to Win: March on Queens Park, 2000” and “Convergence 2010. No Olympics on Stolen Land. No Social Cleansing. No Eco-Destruction.” Others are in Portuguese with images of Brazilian workers. It’s clear that the coalition’s work in Toronto is connected to global struggles.