Councillor Josh Goguen

In a 5 to 4 vote, Tantramar Town Council rejected a new bylaw Tuesday night that would ban begging and loitering in public places.

But then, in a surprising turn, council voted unanimously to keep current anti-begging  and loitering bylaws in Sackville and Dorchester while town staff take another look at the issues involved.

“We’re basically saying to somebody that you’re sitting down and the bylaw officer can come up to you and say, ‘What are you doing? Who are you? Why are you sitting around?'” Councillor Josh Goguen said as he argued against passing a new bylaw.

He suggested that it would give enforcement officers too much power and added that there are alternatives to issuing tickets to people asking for money, especially if they’re not being aggressive.

“We need to figure out a solution for housing and for them to have a permanent spot that they don’t have to go out on the street and ask for money anymore,” he said.

Councillor Bruce Phinney agreed adding that at the moment, begging and loitering aren’t creating problems in Tantramar.

But Councillor Michael Tower supported the new bylaw arguing that it would give police an opportunity to check on people who may be having mental health problems.

When Mayor Black called for a vote, the results were as follows: Councillors Goguen, Butcher, Phinney and Wiggins-Colwell along with Mayor Black voted against the new bylaw while Deputy Mayor Martin and Councillors Estabrooks, Hicks and Tower voted in favour.

The mayor then declared the motion to approve the bylaw had been defeated.

Surprising turn

Town Clerk Donna Beal

After the vote, Town Clerk Donna Beal pointed out that Sackville and Dorchester still have anti-begging, anti-loitering bylaws that were required under the old New Brunswick Municipalities Act.

The newer Local Governance Act allows each municipality to choose whether to enact such a bylaw.

“If it’s council’s wish not to have a loitering and begging bylaw, then a motion should be passed to repeal any former Town of Sackville or Village of Dorchester loitering or begging bylaw,” Beal told council.

After Councillor Goguen moved a motion, seconded by Councillor Phinney, to repeal the old  bylaws, Councillor Matt Estabrooks expressed concern that the town would no longer have any power to control loitering.

“That’s not something I can stand behind,” he said.

Safety issues

“By removing these bylaws, bylaw enforcement would have no authority to move anyone along whether it be in a park, whether it be in a public place, whether it be on a sidewalk,” said Treasurer Michael Beal, who currently oversees bylaw enforcement.

Michael Beal

He added that Tantramar has used the bylaw to move a loiterer along when people felt unsafe in a town park.

Beal also referred to people who feared for their children’s safety because someone had been hanging around an area for a couple of days.

“There was no ticket issued, there was no calling the RCMP and arresting an individual, it was education of the individual and that you can’t loiter here, there’s people who do feel uncomfortable and they accepted that and moved on,” he explained.

After Councillors Barry Hicks, Michael Tower and Deputy Mayor Greg Martin argued that an anti-loitering bylaw is needed, council voted unanimously not to repeal the old ones while town staff takes another look at the issues involved.

Criminalizing poverty

Sackville resident Jeska Grue, who speaks for the New Brunswick Common Front for Social Justice, says that while she’s glad council voted against a new bylaw on begging and loitering, she’s disappointed that it did not repeal the old ones.

She notes that such bylaws are similar to Canada’s now-repealed vagrancy laws that penalized poor people.

“Just for being in a public space for a sustained amount of time, somebody can be targeted and criminalized for appearing suspicious when it’s a complaint-based process,” she says.

She adds that instead of focussing on begging and loitering, Tantramar should be advocating for solutions to issues that cause poverty such as the lack of affordable housing, stagnant wages and inadequate social support.

Grue, who watched last night’s council meeting on YouTube, also had a message for the councillors and staff who expressed concerns about public safety.

“I think that we are all safer if we support and protect the most vulnerable members of our communities by looking at the underlying structural issues that are causing people to be placed into poverty.”