That's the spirit! If we ignore the homeless, it's like they're not there at all.
I know I sounds callous, but I don't mean to, but what are we doing to help by giving a few coins to some homeless guy, regardless of what he does with it. He'll be there tomorrow, and the next day, and thus your money did nothing to help his situation, other than perhaps to buy him a coffee that day.
Meanwhile, the word gets out that Toronto is an easy mark for begging, not just by homeless folks of obvious mental affliction, but also of your generic street kid. Remember how the sqeegee (sp?) craze took off, when at one time no one sqeegied your car, and then they were on every street corner. Now they're mostly gone, primary due to better police enforcement AND people refused to pay.
If everyone in Toronto for one year said no to giving to beggars, and instead gave that money and a little more to the United Way or a similiar organization that helps people, the beggars and the city would be better off, and you'd still get to feel good that you've helped someone.
I think it's time for the Province to get back into the shelter business. We've got people from all of the province, if not country coming here, out of luck and desperate, and hoping to find shelter in Toronto's homeless-support industry (and it is an industry). It's not Toronto's place to guarantee housing to its residents. Thus the higher levels of government should help these folks. No Andrea, I know Harper and John Tory (or whomever will run the Ontario PCs next election) definitely won't do it, but neither did any of the Liberal or Ontario NDP regimes. In fact, IIRC, it was the NDP that shut down many of Ontario's mental health institutions, thus releasing hundreds of fragile people onto the streets of Toronto to starve or beg thus depending on the sometimes misguided charity of others.
