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An Ontario law against aggressive panhandlers and so-called squeegee kids penalizes the poor and should be scrapped, says a former attorney general who admits he failed to do so when he had the chance.

Michael Bryant, who served in Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal government, is leading a group of anti-poverty advocates and a current crop of provincial politicians in a renewed push for Ontario to repeal the Safe Streets Act.

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“We’re wasting a lot of money putting people further behind,” Bryant said in an interview. “It’s humiliating and unjust to penalize someone for being poor.

“No middle-class Ontarian is getting these tickets.”

Bryant is headlining Street Legal 2017, a conference encouraging a push for systemic change to laws that are disproportionately affecting the homeless, which took place in Ottawa on Friday.

Brought in by the Mike Harris government in 1999, the Safe Streets Act outlaws “aggressive” panhandlers and so-called squeegee kids attempting to collect money in public washrooms, at public transit stops, and from commuters in traffic. Under the act, police are able to fine panhandlers $500 for a first offence. Repeat offenders can face fines up to $1,000 or up to six months in jail.