Law, Poverty and the City Poverty Law in Practice 25 March 2015

1. Law, Poverty and the CityPoverty Law in Practice25 March 2015 Johanna Macdonald, LLB, LLM ARCH Disability Law Centre Counsel, St. Michael’s Hospital Academic Family Health Team Legal Services Program

2. Outline • Introduction • Outreach - Street Youth Legal Services • Tyrell and Katie • Access to Justice • Medical-Legal Partnership • Farah and Lee • Panhandling, Sex work and Shelter • Conclusion - Law as a barrier and access point to social equality & health equity

3. Introduction • My background • Legal services in Toronto for persons with low income -Legal Aid Ontario community clinics -Legal Aid Ontario certificates & programs-Pro Bono -Community Advocates • Homelessness in Toronto & my clients’ lack of safety and security. Why am I using those words? That type of analysis?

4. Definition of Homelessness • http://www.homelesshub.ca/ • Homelessness describes a range of housing and shelter circumstances, with people being without any shelter at one end, and being insecurely housed at the other. That is, homelessness encompasses a range of physical living situations, organized here in a typology that includes 1) Unsheltered, or absolutely homeless and living on the streets or in places not intended for human habitation; 2) Emergency Sheltered, including those staying in overnight shelters for people who are homeless, as well as shelters for those impacted by family violence; 3) Provisionally Accommodated, referring to those whose accommodation is temporary or lacks security of tenure, and finally, 4) At Risk of Homelessness, referring to people who are not homeless, but whose current economic and/or housing situation is precarious or does not meet public health and safety standards. It should be noted that for many people homelessness is not a static state but rather a fluid experience http://www.homelesshub.ca/ResourceFiles/CHRNhomelessdefinition-1pager.pdf

5. Who are the homeless youth in the GTA? Stat’s from: Gaetz and O’Grady and Buccieri (2010) Surviving Crime and Violence: Street Youth and Victimization in Toronto, Homeless Hub and Justice for Children and Youth, pages 22-26. -233 research participants people in study -mean age of participants in the study = 21 -mean age of leaving home = 16.5 – male, 16.9- female -65.8% male, 32% female, 2.2% trans. -23% GLBTQ -35% identified as ‘visible minority’ – some did not know what that meant. 47% ‘white, 22% ‘black’, 15% aboriginal. -45% of youth born in GTA, 32% out of GTA, 22% out of country -education – 65.7% have NOT received a gr. 12 education -$$ = 23% employed, 21% shelter allowance, 15% social assistance; 15% crime, 8% sex work -Link to Child Welfare - 43% have previously been in the care of a Children’s Aid Society

6. Outreach Legal Services • Street Youth Legal Services, Justice for Children and Youth • Outreach at shelters, drop-ins and community health centres • Themes of social exclusion and regulation of poverty. Elevating issues to equality rights and right to safety and security

7. Tyrell • Kicked out of home by father at 16 after coming out. Newcomer, sponsored by father. • Experiencing homophobic and racist comments from classmates in math class. Swore at classmates and was suspended • What can Tyrell do to establish safety and security? How do Tyrell’s circumstances relate to Municipal Law?

8. Katie • Living on streets all summer. • Has significant mental health disability. • When ticketed for sleeping in the park, Katie was also hurt by the police officers. She was also charged with assaulting a police officer& is to appear in court. • What can Katie do to establish safety and security? What are her legal problems & how do they relate to Municipal law?

9. Overarching & Connecting Theme - Access to Justice • Access to justice is one of five principles of the Law Society Act, regulating legal services in Ontario • The purpose of the Legal Aid Services Act is to promote access to justice for low-income individuals • Access to administrative justice in poverty law matters

10. Legal Services in Partnership • Funding for medical-legal partnership. Goal = increase access to justice and improve social determinants of health • ARCH Disability Law Centre • HIV-Aids Legal Clinic of Ontario • Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto • Neighbourhood Legal Services • St. Michael’s Hospital Academic Family Health Team

11. Farah • Farah is a trans-female. She requires a transfer our of her social housing unit due to harassing neighbours exacerbating Farah’s mental health disability. • Staying at shelters and experiencing transphobia and harassment from the shelter staff. • How can Farah establish her safety and security? Does Farah’s circumstance relate to Municipal Law?

12. Zack • Zack has PSTD and applied for ODSP but was denied. • On Ontario Works (welfare) in meantime but unclear of process for getting travel allowance or other potential benefits. • Zack smokes marijuana to manage his symptoms. He was at the Toronto Jazz Festival in a park and was smoking marijuana. Police arrived and asked to search him. Along with 5 grams of pot, two ecstasy pills were also found and he was charged.

13. Legal Services in Partnership • Themes of a disability rights and equality rights framework of analysis • Theme of access to administrative justice • Bringing evidence of potential improvements to social determinants of health aligned with decreased risks to safety and security? Why does this matter?

14. Bedford – the Prostitution Case • Proving the state’s law as harmful Here’s a good article on the challenge to the prostitution law: http://ultravires.ca/2012/03/section-7-prevails-in-bedford-case/

15. SSA Challenge • Justice for Children and Youth’s challenging the panhandling laws See the legal arguments made at: http://www.jfcy.org/PDFs/SSAappeal-factum.pdf

16. Housing Challenge • Proving a positive obligation on the state to provide for a baseline level of social equality, eg: housing, is difficult! http://www.acto.ca/en/cases/right-to-housing.html http://www.acto.ca/assets/files/cases/Amended%20Not.%20of%20App.(R2H).pdf

17. Marie-Eve Sylvestre: “ Vagrancy laws and their modern substitutes contained in cities bylaws and provincial statutes all have in common a tendency to sanction homeless people either for being homeless, for resorting to street survival strategies related to their status as homeless persons or for merely being in public spaces, rather than punishing them for adopting a specific behaviour, causing any particular harm or presenting any particular threat to personal integrity or security” Sylvestre’s Affidavit from the Right to Housing case

18. Law as an Oppressive Force BUT…! • The city plays a pivotal role in access the justice including fairness in decision making about resources crucial to the safety and security of the our most vulnerable neighbours • The city has taken significant positive steps to create a more equitable living environment, and there are many opportunities for engagement with the city for policy reform

19. Questions and Contact Johanna Macdonald Counsel, St. Michael’s Legal Services Program ARCH Disability Law Centre 110-425 Bloor Street East Toronto, ON  M4W 3R4 www.archdisabilitylaw.ca Phone: (416) 770-4533 Fax: (416) 482-2981 Email: macdonaj@lao.on.ca