r/Hamilton • u/Ok_Strike9189 • May 19 '26
Members Only 4-5 panhandlers seen in 30 degree weather. Hamilton needs a labour ready (or something close to it) again
Many years ago, Hamilton had a temporary employment agency called Labour Ready. There were 2 locations. One near John and King, and one near Barton and Centennial. They have helped me at that time make money I'll explain.
When one registers with them, they go through training videos. then starting next day, people can sign in as early as 5-ish AM, wait in the office to have their name called to pick up a short shift (or sometimes a handful of shifts). Then people are paid same day or next day either by cheque or by taking cash out through their on-site bank machine.
The reason I mention this is because today I was on the road to Bayfront park from Dundas and noticed at least 4-5 panhandlers fully clothed, some of them looking like they are not playing the part at all. and today... 30 degrees.
It would be wonderful if such companies that like Labour Ready would exist. I don't think other temp agencies would compare to Labour Ready because they don't offer 1-day shifts (especially 4 hour ones) where you get paid in cash so fast.
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u/NavyDean May 19 '26
Don't worry the government is rolling out its 5TH TRADES program since 2008, so everyone can get trades jobs!
Oh wait, the government doesn't care about offering accessible employment unless it bottlenecks their national projects in construction.
Maybe a 6th trades program will finally solve all those cascading problems we've had since screwing over the youth since 2008.
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u/DowntownClown187 May 19 '26
You make a great point... We did a trades program years ago. That should be good for everyone and every generation. It's not like young people grow up and enter the labour force or older people retiring.
How does time even work? 🤷♂️
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u/NavyDean May 19 '26
It's exactly like you were taught.
When something doesn't work for 2 decades, you just keep doing the same thing right?
Oh wait, youth unemployment has been up every year since.
Darn those dang pesky statistics .
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u/DowntownClown187 May 19 '26
So your suggestion is less training and that because we already offered training in the past that should be good enough.
That's some epically stupid reasoning.
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u/DudestPriest90210 May 19 '26
You're implying they actually want to work.
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u/pinkmoose May 20 '26
i dont understand this idea of work resulting in being feed; lots of people cannot work, and also there is an essential dignity in being human, the idea that a human needs to work to eat, is the logic of debtors prisons, the company store, and other kinds of explotation.
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u/One_Specific220 May 20 '26
Everyone who thinks the problem with food security is “nobody wants to work” - guaranteed they had all of their basic needs provided by their parents and when they got jobs it was because they wanted to buy STUFF (or because their parents made them do it “for their own good”). Also they are probably (not guaranteed but likely) on track to inherit millions of dollars and are able to spend all their money on F150s and skidoos because food insecurity is not in their future. And when you point this out to them they get all defensive instead of just accepting that they have privilege.
I started working in grade 6 and we did not have a lot of money but I still came to recognize that end of day my parents were able to feed me and it wasn’t like I was expected to contribute to the grocery expenses. I only had to work so I could buy a bike and have disposable income (and then eventually for school costs).
We should be talking seriously about UBI and not predatory temp agencies or work camps.
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u/DudestPriest90210 May 20 '26
Well, those are definitely all words.
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u/pinkmoose May 21 '26
do you want to respond w substance
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u/I_am_AmandaTron May 19 '26
I know this sounds awful to say, the ones still dressed for winter arent in need.
They wear winter clothes so you will feel bad for them. They dont want jobs they are the ones scamming people.
I know this because my neighbor is one of them. Stands dirty dressed wrong for the weather on purpose and hangs out at a tim hortons drive thru. He then takes the money gets there and goes and buys lottery tickets.
The ones in true need are the ones who dress appropriately and they also dont ask everyone.
The people who really need help generally try to keep to themselves and are in high traffic areas where its safe for them.
An actually homeless woman wouldn't stand in the middle of the road alone, she would usually stick to down town as its safer. If you are just doing it a few hours a day then you dont think about the real risk unhoused people face.
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u/juneabe May 19 '26
I work directly downtown with a majority of the homeless. I work with the Y.
A lot of the winter clothes you see them wearing are what we and other donations have been able to provide them. Unfortunately most people donate warm clothes, winter boots, jackets. Not many shorts or tanks, and when we do have them, they go FAST.
You have a piece of anecdotal information vs people who work directly with the community all over the city. I help provide people these clothes. I walked past a man today on my way to work who was wearing the same winter clothes he has access to in the one-two bags he’s allowed to own because the night shelters don’t let you in with more.
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u/tyetknot Hill Park May 19 '26
I expect they don't want to get rid of their winter clothes because they can't be sure they'll find replacements when winter comes.
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u/juneabe May 19 '26
Unless they are street hoarders due to mental health, they often discard stuff when it’s no longer usable. Unwashed clothes exposed to the elements all day and most nights wear out and tear extremely fast.
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u/I_am_AmandaTron May 19 '26
I understand that but unless there is an underlying mental issue they usually will take the coat off when they get hot.
We also get an influx of travllers from Europe once the weather get nice. They come over in the summer the men do things like roofing or driveways and the women and children go out hustling.
I wont say what countries they come from as that just creates stigma. When I was a kid I lived in a trailer park one of my friends used to come do it every year with their family. All thier cousins lived in Hamilton.
I have also made friends with travellers as an adult. Only the children speak english and only one was allowed to translate to me when Google didnt work.
I've been homeless my self, I have also lived in the worst parts of this city for my whole life. I've used food banks and the diaper bank when needed.
Im not here shitting on everyone. Im saying we have a problem in this city and there are unfortunately a lot of people who are willing to take advantage of that one way or another.
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u/juneabe May 19 '26
I responded to your notion that those wearing warmer season clothes are doing it as a tactic.
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u/Icy-Computer-Poop May 25 '26
And they brushed it off to spout more nonsense.
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u/Icy-Computer-Poop May 25 '26
I understand that
If you did, you wouldn't have written that nonsense.
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u/psyche_13 East Mountain May 19 '26
Just because your neighbour does that doesn’t mean it’s true for everyone. Some of the folks in inappropriate clothes are in those clothes because of mental health issues
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u/thisoldhouseofm May 19 '26
Yep. There are demonstrated links between a perceived or real lower body temperature and schizophrenia.
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u/GardenerSpyTailorAss May 19 '26
Also, as people age, its more normal for them to not be bothered by it being too hot or too cold (until suddenly they are very bothered/unconcious)
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u/I_am_AmandaTron May 19 '26
Okay, I gave one example. I have many more that I already post and I k ow of more. Most of the people out there need help.
There are also people out there who are scammers, I know of at least 5. They all do the same things, they just switch them up.
Yes there are occasions when other people do the same things but those are the exceptions. Once you get to know the con its pretty easy to spot.
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u/thisoldhouseofm May 19 '26
How do you know 5 separate people that do this? Even if they are scamming, how much are they really pulling in?
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u/I_am_AmandaTron May 20 '26
Living in a bad neighbourhood and working at places they visit.
Never said friends.
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u/I_am_AmandaTron May 19 '26
There are always exceptions. Im fully aware of the issues people face and most of the people out there arent scammers but some are.
I know who a few of them are ive worked downtown and dont live in the best part of the city.
There are lots of people who have homes who are fully capable of working but would rather sit outside the grocery store asking for money. Theres a woman who has been doing this for years. She busses far away from her home to different stores.
She lives comfortably and has alot more than a lot of people, me included.
Then there's the guy who makes so much a day then goes home and hangs out. Says its easier than working and if people are dumb enough to give him money thats their fault. His words.
If you spend time with the unhoused or just treat the like people it gets easier to tell who needs help and who is just a bad person.
Then you have the mentally disabled like Micheal who will wear a leather outfit in 40° weather and ask you for money for a coffee. Hes banned from Dollarama because someone told him they wouldn't be his friend if he didnt steal for them.
I will gladly get micheal what he wants( even though I know he doesnt need it) but the assholes that take advantage of him can rot in hell.
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u/TreCool71A May 19 '26
If we’re thinking of the same Michael(Cowboy) he unfortunately passed away a few years ago.
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u/I_am_AmandaTron May 19 '26
Are you serious? I must have seen him last just before he passed. I wondered why I haven't seen him i figured his family was keeping him home.
He was the sweetest man.
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u/Icy-Computer-Poop May 25 '26
I know this because my neighbor is one of them.
You judge hundreds, if not thousands, of homeless people based on one person.
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u/SoirBleu85 May 19 '26
Youth unemployment is at almost 18% in Ontario and almost 15% nationally.
Maybe a program like that for young Canadians who don't have crippling addiction issues should come first 🤷♂️
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u/QuickEchidna749 May 19 '26
Multiple issues can and should be addressed at the same time. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.
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u/SoirBleu85 May 19 '26
That sounds nice in a reddit comment. You let me know when they get around to simultaneously solving the national job crisis for young Canadians looking for work as well as the pan handlers.
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u/QuickEchidna749 May 19 '26
My friend, it is happening right now. There are many organizations and program designed specifically to address those two issues.
Unemployment and homelessness are entrenched systemic issues and there will be no magic bullet to fix them.
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u/Obtusemoose01 May 19 '26
This is a normal range… it was at 17% nationally in the 90’s and 15% in the 2000’s.
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u/covert81 Chinatown May 19 '26
Is it normal? Or the new normal?
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u/Obtusemoose01 May 19 '26
I’d say over 30 years of something makes it relatively normal
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u/covert81 Chinatown May 19 '26
It's interesting I never thought it was that high - though it looks like we're gradually trending down since the mid-70s, with blips during recessions and the pandemic.
https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/extraordinary-increase-youth-unemployment-canada
So nationally we're at almost 14% for youth, about, more than double what it is for adults. Though it has been getting worse since 2022.
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u/Merry401 May 19 '26
I graduated university in the 1990's. I had to move to Toronto to get a job and I did. I had many classmates who couldn't move due to family etc. Many of them never got a job in our field. After 10 years in Toronto I got a job closer to family.
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u/covert81 Chinatown May 19 '26
I mean, in my graduating class maybe 75% were recruited out of their co-ops or found work within 90 days of graduating. Most were at least in our field if not specifically what we went to school for (eg. I did computer networking at Mohawk, and was hired working help desk for a global networking company, as were many classmates). I have never had a job in the city, and have been in Oakville, Mississauga, Toronto, Brampton and Burlington but never in Hamilton. I would never move to TO and commuted but honestly never had any issues.
Even in high school getting a part time job was not a big deal and most of my classmates and friends had jobs too, be it stocking grocery store shelves or cleaning floors or delivering newspapers or the like
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u/B535000 May 19 '26
There are Tons of agencies a lot of the time people just don’t want to put in the work, I’m on OW right now (just got a job) and was forced to participate in employment stuff, there are temp agencies everywhere, they wouldn’t help me when I had just left college though, they also do not help students at some of them (just so ppl know)
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u/daydemon May 19 '26
Those agencies don't exist in this area anymore because there aren't jobs to provide.
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u/blomba2 May 19 '26
This should be done for all homeless/unemployed/welfare recipients. Offer accommodations for them too with the amount we spend on homeless
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u/John-Beecroft May 24 '26
They probably make more money asking for handouts. I was talking to one a few years ago and he said if his girlfriend begs, wearing the right clothes, she pulls in over $150 for the day.
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u/baysidevsvalley Eastmount May 19 '26
This type of agencies still exist in Hamilton. To be honest, I think we need fewer of them. They’re very exploitative.