A member of city council is disappointed that more options are not being presented to address and prevent panhandling in intersections in Windsor.
A report going to the Monday, November 24 meeting of council examined the issue of people standing on pedestrian medians along municipal roadways after council asked for infrastructure-related strategies to discourage unsafe behaviours in the public roadway.
The report calls medians a critical component of roadway design that serves an essential safety function and cannot be altered or removed as a means to deter panhandling.
Ward 4 Councillor Mark McKenzie says it's a huge complaint he's been hearing.
"Anybody who drives around Howard and Tecumseh and Ouellette and Tecumseh-and you're even starting to see it around Devonshire Mall-it's a major concern," he says. "You have a lot of these individuals who are not only on the medians and boulevards, but they're also cutting in and out of traffic."
The report points to existing tools under the Safe Streets Act, 1999, and a 2024 Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision that amended the act that prohibits soliciting a person who is in or on a stopped, standing, or parked vehicle.
The act only allows that in cases involving registered charitable organizations and those by a bylaw of the municipality.
Ward 4 Councillor Mark McKenzie says he wants to see if flower planters, fencing, or uneven ground would prevent people from standing or hanging out within the medians.
"Police are going to go there, and what do you want them to do? You want them to fine these individuals who don't even have the means to pay that fine? Do you want to start throwing them in jail? Let's just make it so these individuals can't even be there, and let's see if that fixes the issue," he says.
McKenzie says he has a lot of questions for the administration about the report that he will raise during the council meeting.
"I want to hear from them directly in public session. Why can't we try some of these other methods that some other municipalities are doing? To just say it's a police issue, that doesn't fly with me. Let's try and find a solution here, or at least a compromise," he says.
Windsor City Council meets Monday, November 24, at 10 a.m. at Windsor City Hall.