Panhandlers may be a growing nuisance in downtown Flin Flon, but they are not necessarily criminals – yet.
It’s unclear whether the City of Flin Flon has a bylaw that forbids people from begging for money or items such as food and cigarettes.
Chief Administrative Officer Mark Kolt said an initial review of the city’s many bylaws failed to identify a decree against panhandling.
But Kolt said it would take further examination to confirm what laws are on the books.
If there is no panhandling bylaw, Coun. Colleen McKee, for one, is eager to see council adopt one.
“What I’m hearing from some of the seniors is, it’s getting very aggressive, that they’re getting sworn at when they don’t give out money and things like that,” said Coun. McKee. “Or one lady said one person wouldn’t let her out of the post office. So I personally would be in favour of (a bylaw).”
Analysis
Kolt said decisions around such a bylaw warrant proper analysis.
“Often these things are best done after a thorough review of all of the cost-benefits, the plusses and the minuses,” he said. “Certainly panhandling is viewed as a nuisance by many people. I understand why a bylaw could be seen as a desirable thing.”
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While federal law forbids physical and verbal threats that can accompany panhandling, the actual act of begging for money is left to municipalities to regulate.
Some municipalities have chosen to outlaw the practice. Others have not, typically because it has not been a significant concern in their communities.
Coun. McKee said panhandling was one of the downtown concerns raised by seniors at a recent meeting between the Flin Flon RCMP and the local Age-Friendly Committee.
She said she took away some important messages from the meeting.
“I’ve been hearing a lot of people (say), ‘Well I’m not going to bother phoning the RCMP because it’s not going to help,’” Coun. McKee said. “And what (the RCMP are) saying is, ‘Always make the phone call.’ Even if it’s questionable whether (someone) broke the law or not. Always make the phone call because this allows them to identify hot spots in the area and those kinds of things.”
Interested
Coun. McKee said the RCMP are “very interested” in a collaborative approach to crime and suggested the city ensure its involvement.
“Working together, I think we can make a difference,” she said. “I think everyone has been very concerned about the crime in the area.”
That said, Coun. McKee said RCMP data shows local crime is down significantly compared to this same time period last year.
Panhandling is a concern that has been raised to council several times in recent years.
Earlier this year, council voted to spend more than $130,000 over the next three years to enforce both bylaws and building codes.
