Five years ago I traveled to India. It had been 20 years since I had spent any time in the 3rd World and I felt my assumptions needed shaking up. I was right. Everything about India was different – the sights, the sounds, the smells and the tastes – or so I imagined. Since that time I have begun to see India all over Canada.
I thought of the sub-continent a few weeks ago when I met Richard. In his early 30s, Richard approached me on a Sunday afternoon as I was walking home from Church. He had been laid off from Magna Auto Parts. “Do you have a job for me? I’ll do anything!”
The proportion of unemployed people receiving EI benefits has declined significantly in Canada, from 87% in 1990 to 36% by 1998.
Last week I was napping when the doorbell rang. Startled, and a little dazed, I ran to the door to greet a thin middle-aged man, standing in front of his bicycle. “I would like to clean up your front yard in return for a small donation. I don’t have a penny. I’m completely broke.” I looked down at my front steps and the leaves and winter rubbish that had collected beneath them. My entire property is 14 feet wide and less than that to the sidewalk. I figured it would take 10 minutes to clean it, fifteen minutes to do it well. “Sure”, I replied. “Go ahead”.
Twenty minutes later, he summoned me to the door. “Are you married, sir?” “Yes, why do you ask?” “Because she’s really going to love this”. “Are you married?” I asked. “Well that’s the thing, you see, she’s got everything. I figured it was better that way. Just leave it all. That’s why I’m in the hostels. They’re not very good you know. They’ve become crack houses – and noisy too. You can never get any sleep.” Truth be told, I didn’t want to know.
According to an April 2000 study, people who use food banks in Toronto have, on average, $4.95 a day to spend on all their needs other than rent - food, transportation, utilities, laundry, school supplies, personal toiletries, etc. In 1995, the average amount was $7.40.
I made a $10 donation. “I don’t mean to be ungrateful sir, but I’m just doing some calculation in my head. I don’t have anything and if I had $12 I could get a ‘pay bed’ and a hamburger and a coffee.” I had a toonie in my pocket so I added it to the paper.
This is not the first time a beggar has negotiated with me. It has happened several times on the streets of Toronto. But its still not as sophisticated as it is in India.
Lawrence worked as a driver at the Indian Institute where I was teaching and would sometimes take me on errands around the city. He distinguished himself by being one of the few people who did not ask me for money. Then, the day before I left India, he asked me to become a sponsor for his children’s school fees. Several hundred dollars annually is not a lot by Canadian standards but it was a negotiation just the same.
Where I live in downtown Toronto, I pass anywhere from two to ten beggars on my way walking to work. This does not include the young couple in their early twenties who sleep on the porch of my parish church. They can’t receive social assistance because they don’t have a permanent address.
In 1996, families represented 46% of the people using hostels in Toronto ; in Montreal it is estimated that 4,000 to 5,000 youth are homeless and that 30-40% of homeless people are women.
The biggest challenge for compassionate Canadians is coming to terms with the fact that increasing poverty is a function of public policy. We could change it if we wanted to. Do you?
Sentences in Italics are taken from documents of the National Anti Poverty Organization.
First Published in May 2004
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