Youth Rights Commission decries fines given to the homeless as discriminatory

Homeless youth ticketed Police handed out a number of tickets to homeless youth over physical distancing but advocates say sticking together is a matter of survival.

MONTREAL — The commission for youth rights believes that the crackdown on homeless people to enforce public health confinement guidelines is discriminatory.

The Canadian Press revealed on Saturday that several $1,546 tickets were handed out to youth living on the street for violating public-health instructions to fight the COVID-19 epidemic. The young homeless people were gathered near a metro station and were placed in confinement.

On Wednesday morning, the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse (CDPDJ) expressed concern about these practices. It believes that the ban on assembly has a “discriminatory impact” on the homeless population.

The CDPDJ “asks the police to take into account the situation of these people when applying the emergency measures linked to the current crisis,” reads a CDPDJ news release.

Commission president Philippe-André Tessier asked the police to take into account the “disproportionate impact of the application of these measures on people who are already vulnerable.”

“Homeless people cannot isolate themselves in their home since they do not have one,” he added.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 15, 2020.