....a decade a go, there were a number of low-cost housing options, flops, and squats throughout Victoria where most of the street folk could disappear too. Not to mention the extensive camping grounds across/under the bridges. But then development came in and took those away, so the street people problems that we were able to ignore before were pushed out on to the sidewalks.
And yes, Pandora has been this bad before (in the early 2000s), and you'd probably have to go back to before the court rulings on panhandling and the like to find a time when they weren't aggressive or in your face.
*****
Daily Colonist
May 1, 1980
Bugged by panhandlers? Grin 'n bear it
"Campers" in park at foot of Wharf have to move on, but begging tolerated.
The bumper crop of panhandlers that has shown up in downtown Victoria with the spring blossoms may be here to stay awhile...
As four business-oriented organizations turned to city hall and police for action Wednesday, the word was that little could be done about the situation.
"It's been a continuing problem around here," said a sympathetic Victoria police spokesman. "They can sit out in front of the liquor store on Yates Street asking for money as you pass and there's no law to deal with it. They took away the vagrancy charge years ago."
If the person putting the hammer on you is carrying a weapon or grabs you in a way that would constitute assault, that's another matter. Or if he gets in your way and impedes your travel, he can be charged with causing a disturbance.
The groups seeking help maintain that the normally pretty face of the city is being given an ugly look by the unwanted people of the street.
"They're turning the city of gardens into skid road..."
The complaint is that Victoria has been invaded earlier than usual by bothersome panhandlers. The problem is compounded by drunks.
Of the panhandlers, Acs says: "Some of them get quite belligerent if you refuse."
Philip Holmes, president of the business association, believes council should bring in a tough bylaw giving police power to deal effectively with the situation.
Information centre officials say they will send a letter of protest to city council, particularly because of verbal assaults on female staff members.
Included in complaints to council are stories about beggars walking into the Causeway tourist bureau to bother visitors, and drunks shouting obscenities and urinating in public.