Windsor city council is moving to develop a bylaw aiming at eliminating aggressive panhandling.
During Monday's meeting, council passed a motion from Ward 1 councillor Fred Francis, which called on administration to bring forward a bylaw to reduce aggressive, intimidating and dangerous panhandling practices.
Francis says they're going to see what they can do when it comes to bylaw enforcement tools that are in other jurisdictions.
"I think everyone in this room understands the status quo is not working, " he says. "When we're talking about aggressive and dangerous panhandling practices, you also have to think about the people that are actually panhandling as well. There's situations that we've all seen, where people are getting way to close to vehicles and vehicles at intersections that are moving."
Earlier in the meeting, administration had delivered a report to council in regards to a July 2022 question from Francis, who at the time had asked about the feasibility of establishing a bylaw that prohibits panhandling in residential, business, and tourism districts within the City of Windsor, including boulevards and pedestrian refuges.
Francis says anything we can do to help improve the situation, he thinks they should try.
"We don't want to ticket people but if we can use bylaw enforcement officers to help educate them, help them understand what resources they have for assistance, even better. At the very least that will provide more resources, in tune with Windsor police, to hopefully move the needle just a little bit, if not a whole lot. Again, status quo for me is not sufficient," he adds.
The report from administration indicated the Courts have found that peaceful and nonobstructive panhandling is considered to be a form of expression, and as such is protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.