Panhandler will return, despite tickets

A Regina man who has been ticketed for interfering with traffic while panhandling says he will likely return to his spot, to continue to ask motorists for money.

Panhandling, itself, was not the problem.

A Regina bylaw, however, limits activities that might interfere with traffic.

Here is the relevant excerpt:

"No person shall, while on a median, traffic island or traffic control device, solicit a person who is in or on a moving, stopped, standing or parked vehicle."

Bryce Clark was recently fined $160 while he was panhandling near a busy Regina intersection.

"Sometimes they kick me off. Sometimes they tell me to go. Sometimes I get a ticket," Clark said. "I've gotten three tickets so far."

Police said the ticket was issued after a motorist complained.

"According to the reports, he was standing in the intersection as cars drove by causing the traffic to have to drive around him which was causing dangerous bottlenecks," Leslie Parker, a spokesman for the police, told CBC.

Parker said police are not targeting panhandlers adding they are concerned about safety and ensuring people are not overly aggressive when they ask for money.

Clark said he is not bothered by the police issuing tickets and will continue his ways.

"I'll be back," he said, noting he has to raise some extra money anyway. "I gotta pay it somehow right?"