proposed provincial law that would give police the right to force homeless people into shelters during bad weather has angered civil libertarians

This brings up more Constitutional issues than I can shake a stick at, and I seriously doubt that Canadians are going to allow anything like this happen at all....  

I can hardly wait to hear from my friends in The Great White North on this......

Move to force homeless into shelters draws scorn

Civil libertarians question whether bill will pass Charter challenge; front-line workers question its practicality

Jane Armstrong

Vancouver — From Tuesday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Tuesday, Sep. 22, 2009 03:47AM EDT

A proposed provincial law that would give police the right to force homeless people into shelters during bad weather has angered civil libertarians, who claim the move is a back-door bid to clean up Vancouver's streets in time for the Olympics.

The proposed law, which is the first of its kind in Canada, won't pass a Charter challenge, B.C. Civil Liberties Association president David Eby said Monday.

“The proposal is absurd,” Mr. Eby said. “I'm picturing someone face down on the sidewalk in handcuffs for the crime of being homeless and refusing to report to the nearest homeless shelter.

“And that is not something that is … permissible under the Constitution.”

Housing advocates and outreach workers who work with Vancouver's homeless population said the proposed law is fraught with logistical problems: What will police do if the homeless person refuses to go to the shelter? Can shelter staff force people to stay in a shelter if they don't want to be there? Will the law force city police officers to become de facto social workers, coaxing reluctant people into shelters on rainy and snowy days?

B.C. Housing and Social Development Minister Rich Coleman Monday attempted to allay fears, insisting that the law won't force people to stay in a shelter after they arrive. Mr. Coleman also denied that the law is a pre-Olympic bid to bolster police powers.

Rather, he said the province felt morally compelled to act following the death last winter of a homeless woman, killed when her makeshift shelter caught fire.

The proposed law – and the emotional reaction to it – has underscored the complexity of Vancouver's vexing homelessness problem. Politicians have been grappling with the issue for years.

 CONT