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Panhandling is not a typical activity to see on the roadways of the West Island in wintertime, where busy boulevards and service roads are built for driving, not pedestrian traffic.

But what might seem to be a dead zone for panhandling is actually an ideal spot for one welfare recipient from eastern Montreal, who says a main artery in Pointe-Claire “works much better” than downtown or other busy neighbourhoods of the big city.

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“There’s also a lot of problems with cops in other places, like downtown or St-Henri,” said Phil, who would not give his full name to avoid trouble from police.

“It’s mostly in poorer areas that they’re (police) are worse,” he said.

By “worse,” Phil explained that police have repeatedly ticketed him with fines of $40 or more for panhandling.

“For a long time I was getting some in the mail, once they had my address,” he said.

To avoid trouble, the 32-year-old often commutes more than 20 kilometres by bus from his apartment in Montreal’s St-Michel neighbourhood to St-Jean Boulevard in Pointe-Claire, where he said he easily collects twice as much as he can in the city.