Citing fears that panhandling is starting to hurt Vancouvers $3.8-billion tourism industry, officials are giving the thumbs-up to the B.C. government for its efforts to curb what they see as a serious problem.

The government recently introduced legislation  not yet passed into law  designed to get rid of aggressive panhandlers. Under the new law, police can fine panhandlers if they use threatening language or come within five metres of bus stops, bank machines or pay phones.

Tour operators are now contemplating pulling tours out of certain neighbourhoods and not stopping at certain hotels, says Stephen Regan, manager of destination development for Tourism Vancouver. When it gets to that level we have to take the aggressive panhandling issue seriously. Its the tip of the iceberg.

But not everyone applauds the move. Our view is that this (the legislation) would criminalize poor people and punish them, says Sarah Khan, a lawyer with the B.C. Public Interest Advocacy Centre.

Photos by Bayne Stanley, Business Edge

Passive panhandlers such as this man arent the problem.

Khan says the B.C. Liberal government is to blame for the proliferation of panhandlers because of its cutbacks to social services programs. She also believes the legislation is not needed.

Criminal charges can be laid. There are lots of laws in place that can deal with the kind of behaviour that people object to, she says.

This new legislation will be used to move people along, and not charge them.

One organization that has been vocal about the aggressive panhandling in Vancouvers downtown core is the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association.

Dave Jones, of the Downtown Vancouver Business Association, calls panhandling a serious issue for business.

The legislation is designed to deal with the aggressive panhandlers, says Dave Jones, director of crime prevention services with the association, which represents 8,000 businesses with $5.7 billion in assets in a 90-square block area in the downtown.

A former district commander for the Vancouver Police downtown, Jones says aggressive panhandlers are the problem.

We know from major hotels that a high proportion of comment cards filled out by tourists say the aggressive panhandlers are a serious problem, and this is not the case in other cities, he says. So when a significant portion of our tourists make reference to aggressive panhandling, then you have a serious problem that has to be dealt with.

He also says that a lot of the associations smaller businesses find it difficult to attract staff, especially women when aggressive panhandlers plant them themselves in front of the business they work at. Its intimidating.

The provinces $3.1-billion hotel industry also heartily endorses the legislation.

Petty crime and aggressive panhandling is having a major impact on tourism and the hotel business in almost every community in the province, Craig Norris-Jones, board chair of the B.C. & Yukon Hotels Association, said in a recent statement.

The new strategy will give authorities the proper legislative tools and adequate resources to help remedy the situation, his statement added.

Several anti-poverty groups have condemned the legislation and have led protest rallies, saying it is an unwarranted attack on the poor and disfranchised.

Pradeep Puri, general manager of the Westin Grand in the downtown, says the problem must be solved immediately.

Its not good for tourism, he says. This takes away from everything we do top-notch in the city. Aggressive panhandlers make tourists feel insecure walking at night.

Vancouver officials can learn from the Calgary experience, say officials in that city.

We did change the bylaw (in regards to panhandlers), but to my knowledge no one has been charged, says Calgary Downtown Association executive director Richard White. The problem with bylaws is that they have to be enforced.

Earlier this year, Calgary officials revised a bylaw whereby panhandlers could be fined $50 for their first offence and as much as $100 for their second offence if they refused to take no as an answer.

Were trying to do more with public awareness in urging people not to give to panhandlers, because 80 per cent of what they get goes to drugs, alcohol or cigarettes. If you give money to people on the streets you are perpetuating the problem, he adds.

This past spring, the association launched a campaign asking the public not to give panhandlers money, and it has met with some success. When we launched the campaign, panhandlers said there was a definite drop in the money they were getting, White says.

One B.C. businessman also says enough is enough.

We have no choice but to change the behaviour and aggressive attitude of some panhandlers, says Jim Storie, president and chief executive officer of Vancouver Trolley, a company that ferries tourists throughout Greater Vancouver in brightly coloured San Francisco-style trolleys.

He recounts the story of walking with an elderly person in downtown Vancouver and trying to get a panhandler to move because he was blocking the stairs leading to the Vancouver courthouse.

My politely asking him to move was met with, F

you, you ass

-, he says. I get annoyed at that kind of response and we cant afford to tarnish our good reputation especially in light of the 2010 Olympics.

Tourists, Storie adds, also get upset with that aggressive approach. On a recent business trip to Germany, Storie says, there were inquiries by German tour operators about the panhandling issues in Vancouver.

He also believes that a lot of the panhandlers are not all that poor when you consider you see them drinking lattes at Starbucks and begging the next moment.

The new legislation, however, isnt sitting that well with its intended targets. Mervyn, originally from Regina, has been panhandling on Vancouver streets for 24 years. The legislation is not needed, he says. I dont hassle anyone. I just try to get some money to get by with.

Tourism Vancouvers Regan says the new law doesnt affect passive panhandlers, but rather the physically aggressive ones who hurl verbal abuse at people or who wave needles in their faces.

There have been enough reports from tourism people to Tourism Vancouver to know that is becoming a problem and we have to take it seriously, he says.

It is not hurting the industry a lot now, but it will if it continues.

(George Froehlich can be reached at george@businessedge.ca)