By Arthur Weinreb
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Thirty-two-year-old Ross Hammond, of St. Catharines, was walking along Queen Street West in Toronto with a friend in the early hours of August 9 when he was accosted by a panhandler. An altercation developed and when it was all over, Hammond had been stabbed and four "street people" were charged with aggravated assault. When Hammond later succumbed to his injuries, the charge against 21-year-old Nicole Kish was upgraded to second degree murder.
On Tuesday, Ms. Kish was released on bail. Justice Ian Nordheimer ordered her to be released on $165,000 bail, no deposit, with one or more sufficient sureties. She is also subject to conditions, one of which is to reside in Stoney Creek, Ontario with her grandmother. She is not to be within the city of Toronto except to attend court or to meet with her lawyer.
Release on a murder charge is hardly the routine disposition for a bail hearing, even in a society where almost everyone (not Kish) who is charged with a serious offence seems to be already out on some form of judicial interim release. What is interesting about this case is that Kish made her bail and managed to come up with not one, not two, but six sureties to sign on her behalf and who promised to watch her and make sure that she attends court and keeps the peace.
Whether Kish is ultimately convicted of second degree murder, a lesser offence or is acquitted of the charge is something that will be decided at a later time. The interest in this case so far is that the death of Ross Hammond on one of Toronto's major thoroughfares has brought the issue of aggressive panhandling to the forefront. The proliferation of beggars on our streets plays a huge role in the decline in what was once known as "Toronto the Good", in which decline began long before Mayor David Miller, who usually keeps his promises, promised us a dirtier city.
There are many people who are charged with crimes, have bail orders made for substantially less than $165,000 and end up doing "dead time" because they can't come up with one sufficient surety to sign for their release. Yet Nicole Kish; panhandler, homeless person, beggar, street person, comes up with six family members who are willing and able to sign for what is a significant amount of money and give her a place to live while awaiting trial.
We may never know exactly what happened on Queen Street West that early summer evening and what Nicole Kish did or didn't do is a question for the courts. But we have to ask, why was Nicole Kish out on the street begging for money when she has probably more family support than the average person does. It seems a stretch that Kish was out begging for money out of necessity.
The homeless industry would have us believe that everyone who lives on the street has no choice; they are there because they are mentally ill or have absolutely no other alternative. Nothing is ever their fault. It's hard to believe that Nicole Kish, who certainly has problems like the rest of us, could not have reached out for help from one of her family members who have just put a lot on the line to secure her release from jail.
No doubt in the months to come we will hear all kinds of excuses made that will justify Kish's "lifestyle choice". For those who might wish to gamble on such things, the odds are that Kish's finding her out on the street, begging money from strangers was all the fault of Mike Harris and his government's policies. While Nicole Kish may very well end up being blamed for Ross Hammond's death, it is pretty well a certainty that she will not be blamed for having ended up the streets where she and her friends were accosting people for money. That kind of conduct is not only condoned but encouraged in today's society. It wasn't her fault.
If we are ever going to clean up our downtown, we need to know how many Nicole Kish's are there who are allowed to hang around the streets of what was once a beautiful and vibrant city. If the city mothers were truly as caring and compassionate as they always claim they are, they would never tolerate a situation that led to Nicole Kish and others like her living on the streets.
Hopefully enough facts will emerge from her trial to give us some real insight into beggars who are now such an integral part of Canada's largest city. And perhaps, just perhaps, when that happens something will be done to reduce the number of panhandlers that have taken over the downtown areas of Canada's major cities.
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