Down and Out in Winnipeg and Toronto: The Ethics of Legislating Against Panhandling

This report challenges the rise of anti-panhandling legislation in several Canadian cities, the latest being Winnipeg. The author, Director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics, University of Manitoba, acknowledges that panhandling is a serious negative symptom of a deep social program. However, “sweeping the existence of beggars under a coercive legal carpet is the wrong way to go about dealing with this problem…the social causes at the root of panhandling would remain untouched.” Instead of the “top-down” legalistic approach of banning or severely restricting panhandling, a “bottom-up” approach is required involving such measures as income redistribution and appropriate provision of housing and social services. The report puts forward some arguments for why society should allow panhandling, including upholding the right to freedom of expression on the part of beggars to communicate their plight; not allowing the majority to tell the minority how to live their lives; allowing panhandlers to obtain badly-needed income; providing an opportunity for donors to exercise their benevolent impulses by giving aid directly to those in need who ask for help; and promoting entrepreneurialism.

ISBN – 1-894159-16-0