Poverty part 1. Toronto

I live with poverty all around me. Or so I am led to believe by the endless demands from various denizens of Toronto streetlife. The majority of the people who are panhandling on the streets of Toronto are not homeless. They may be "poor" by Canadian standards, but they do have a roof over their head, free medical coverage and access to a wide range of services in the event of an emergency.

I am proud of the fact that the people who came before me have built a country that tries to help those in need and that these values are institutionalised in our government. I am ashamed that so many of my fellow citizens choose to take advantage of our good nature by feigning need to mask apathy.

Having lived in the urban core of a large city, I feel that I am experienced in identifying the major groups that are panhandling in Toronto.

Group 1
- People with serious mental health issues who need help now. These are people I give money to. It is unlikely that they will ever leave their situation until they are too incapicatated or old, at which time they will be institutionalised. Many in this group are not even aware enough to beg, but they are homeless.

Group 2
-Lifestyle choice. This group chooses to live on the street and many of them are quite functional and incredibly resourceful and fully capable. On occasion, I will give some money to this group, mostly due to my respect for their resourcefulness.

Group 3
-The professionals. These are people that know how the system works and being fake homeless has become their job. They collect welfare, many live in subsidized housing and they supplement their welfare by panhandling at claimed territories near key hubs. Subways and liquor store entrances especially. The reality is that in my neighbourhood there are many people who fall into this category, widely supported by those misguided and generous souls who appease their guilt by giving money to these people.

Group 4

- The part timers. For me, this is the most complicated group. Comprised entirely of people in their teens and early twenties it is very difficult to discern the pro's from those who are in desperate straits. I also think that this demographic has the highest proportion of females, who are especially vulnerable to exploitation at a young age. The population of this group booms in the summer, so it is difficult to know whose who. With this group I play it by ear.

Group 5

- Drug addicts. The easiest group of all. I don't give money to this group in my neighbourhood, basically because I don't want a bunch of crackheads living outside my door. Kinda selfish, but I don't want to live in the middle of that whole scene.

The big problem is that most of the people who are panhandling in Toronto fall into at least two of these groups, if not three or more, and I am sure that I have broken my own rules many times due to this complexity. These are the problems that you run into when you try and put people into groups so they can be easily labelled, individual lives and stories are much more complicated and each is unique.

In my next post, I will discuss the poverty I saw in Ghana and explore the differences between the two.