[news] Walking Lorne Mayencourt's Mean Streets

[Resist!ca]

"The Safe Streets Act has been sold, by the Liberals and by the Bill Goods of the talk show world, as a means of protecting people from unwanted harassment and solicitation. Over and over, I've heard the rationale that this legislation will make women, among others, safer when they're out alone. In this way, women are being used as a justification for poor-bashing and criminalization of the most disadvantaged. Personally, as (a) young woman who often walks or drives alone, I've never feared for my safety when asked for spare change. The homeless, whose numbers in the downtown area have doubled in four years of Liberal government, are a constant feature of my neighbourhood. I suppose a key point of the legislation is to insulate the middle class from this reality. If you're destitute, you can be seen but not heard."

URL: http://resist.ca/story/2005/6/11/13913/5769