Over the summer, Arthur’s table at New Student Orientation was right beside Shinerama’s table. I watched as the folks there cajoled visiting parents into donating spare change. They talked about how the best friends you’ll ever make are those you meet through Shinerama. They explained that you probably won’t really shine very many shoes - who even wears shoes that need polishing anymore? They asked, “Do you know what Cystic Fibrosis is?” The answer always began, “Well, it’s a really horrible disease...”
As I write this editorial, Shinerama is coming up soon, but as you read it, the whole thing will be over. You might have participated with your new friends from residence, or you did in your first year. You might have donated, too. And you’re not alone. Shinerama has raised over $21.5 million for Cystic Fibrosis Canada since 1964, and more than 60 universities and colleges participate.
Shinerama raises money for an important cause, and it is also a way for new students to get to know each other better. Most of people I encountered the when I participated in Shinerama were enthusiastic and happy to donate. Shinerama is fun. Shinerama is also very organized panhandling. Shinerama at Trent is a student group that receives a 51 cent non-refundable levy. It has a website and a logo. There’s t-shirts involved. Still, it’s panhandling with some excellent branding.
Perhaps I should resist, but I can’t help but draw a connection to another effort to rebrand panhandling in Peterborough. This summer, the City of Peterborough, at the request of the Downtown Business Improvement Association (DBIA), installed bright yellow “Care Meters” in the downtown. There’s one outside of the LCBO on Sherbrooke; one at the CIBC on George at Hunter. The last one is at George and Simcoe, at K and C Costumes, which has a small poster in its window in memoriam of a panhandler who often sat outside.
The idea behind care meters is that there are folks who want to do something about poverty, but they don’t want to give their money directly to people who are asking for it. They want to demonstrate that they care about homelessness, but they don’t want to interact with actual homeless people.
DBIA members want to see panhandling reduced because they say it makes shoppers less likely to visit their stores, and gives the perception that the downtown is unsafe. In an interview with CHEX this June, a DBIA representative characterized Peterborough’s panhandlers as “polite” and “passive”, clarifying that it was the perception of danger and the discomfort of shoppers that was the problem.
The DBIA’s request for the meters cited statistics from other cities stating that 75% of money given to panhandlers will go to alcohol or drugs. That’s a lot, I agree. But customers at the LCBO, where people often panhandle or busk, are probably spending their discretionary funds on booze too. I don’t especially mind if someone spends my two dollars on beer, since that’s probably what I - and lots of you, too, I’m guessing - was gonna spend it on anyway.
I can understand that perhaps, care meters might seem like a good idea because they allow the public to know exactly where the money they donate will end up. The text on the meters reads, “All the money you put in this meter will be used by Social Service Agencies in this community to provide food, shelter, and support for people in need.” Specific agencies or programs are not outlined, however. If Care Meters are desirable, it’s because those who put their spare change in them like the idea that someone else, some “expert”, can manage poor people’s money better than poor people themselves can. It’s paternalism.
Poverty in Peterborough is an issue that’s on our radar. Needed amenities, like benches, are disappearing as a measure of discouraging panhandlers. This is an accessibility issue for people who might need to sit and rest as they go about their day. Warming and cooling rooms are closing due to lack of city funding. The contract for Our Space drop-in centre has not been renewed, and last year, Garden 579 was closed because the presence of Our Space clients was unwanted by the garden’s neighbours. The St. Vincent de Paul thrift store, which was within walking distance of the Brock Mission, relocated closer to the mall so that it would be more attractive to shoppers who don’t necessarily need to use thrift stores anyway.
It should be our responsibility, as a city, to do everything we can to ensure that people don’t need to panhandle. We should demand that the city build adequate funding for social services into its budget, rather than forcing organizations to rely on charitable donations. We need to help people treat their addictions, where applicable, rather than moralistically denying them the few cents in our pockets while still asserting that we “care.” If panhandlers disappear before this occurs, it is because we have created the uncomfortable position of forcing poor people to compete with a refurbished parking meter for whatever essentials are needed to survive day-to-day.
My guess is that Shinerama didn’t cause anyone in particular to feel unsafe. It likely didn’t detract from downtown shoppers’ enjoyment of the downtown. I guess what I’m saying is, I don’t think the typical Peterborough panhandlers pose a greater safety threat to the public than the student panhandlers during Shinerama. The difference is just the perception of safety; of welcome. Peterborough’s downtown businesses and the city itself do a lot to make Trent students feel at home here. As a year-round Peterborough resident, it’s nice to see more students again. But we should remember that there are other folks in this city who are being crowded out; people who are in just as much need of compassion and resources as the people that postgraduate students panhandled for over the weekend.
