Fredericton has installed six ‘kindness meters’ in the city in an effort to cut down on panhandling, but not everyone thinks the initiative will work.
Money put into the green meters will be split between the city’s community kitchen and two emergency shelters.
“You put money into the kindness meter, you’re providing support for 200 individuals between the shelters and the kitchen,” says Warren Maddox of Fredericton Homeless Shelters.
“If you put money into this meter, you know where it’s going,” says Bruce MacCormack of Downtown Fredericton Inc. “If you put it to a panhandler, you don’t know where it’s going.”
City officials say they frequently hear from residents and retailers about panhandlers downtown and they hope the kindness meters will offer some relief to those in need.
“I certainly hear it a great deal. We do recognize that a lot of these people are doing it for very real reasons, they’re homeless and hungry,” says councillor Kate Rogers.
Fredericton is following in the footsteps of Victoria, Ottawa and Montreal, which have installed similar meters.
“I’m trying to stay open-minded and learn from the other cities across Canada,” says Therese Murray of the Fredericton Community Kitchen.
But some people say the meters won’t do much to stop panhandling.
“That’s how I make my money and that’s not going to stop me, so that’s all I have to say,” said one man on the streets of Fredericton.
“To some degree, you will get resistance from those people that are working the streets that it will have an impact on their income,” said Maddox.
The fine for panhandling in downtown Fredericton is $140, and Maddox says enforcement works, but that police can’t be patrolling the streets for panhandlers all the time.
The city will examine the impact of the kindness meters over the next two years.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Nick Moore
