Yes, we most certainly need to do that. The criminalization of poverty in Nova Scotia is something of great concern. There are new provincial acts and policies that are coming down extremely hard on panhandlers and squeegee kids, as has been evident in Vancouver.
I do the tax returns every year for our clients at Stepping Stone. A couple of months ago, I did a tax return for somebody who has not worked in the sex trade for a long, long, time—a number of years. She was actually getting a refund. We were so excited. It was my first refund in all my tax returns. It was clawed back. It was $140. That was clawed back because of a prostitution fine she had from 10 years before.
I do tax returns for sex workers, current and former, where their total income for the year.... I did one two weeks ago, and her total income for the year was $948. Sometimes people will say, “Oh, how can people go out and do that?”, or “The things people do to survive.” I could not imagine living on $948.
There are some people who we work with for whom sleeping on the streets has become so unbearable that jail is a nice break for them. When I hear of people saying, “Fine, take me to jail because I need to get cleaned up because there are no detox beds; take me to jail because I'm tired of sleeping on the streets; put me in a cell for a couple of months because I need that break from my life and from my existence”--I think that is a pretty sad state of affairs. That's why it's a little bit quiet right now for us at Stepping Stone. It's not as busy as other months, not because the program users are doing well, but because a lot of them are in jail right now due to criminalization. Because of poverty, when they get out, the cycle starts all over again.
Thank you for your question, Megan.