Spare some change?

I can't remember the last time I gave money to a panhandler. Even the cute one winking and smiling at me with his hand outstretched in Vancouver couldn't wheedle a loonie from me.

On sunny days -- which I was lucky enough to experience last week on the west coast -- Vancouver is one of the most beautiful spots in the world.

Unfortunately, the beggars know that too, and hordes of them were out like leeches preying on the tourists.

They were outside the supermarket every time I went shopping. Others sat cross-legged on the sidewalk, caps extended, not far from the striking civic workers catching some rays on the steps of Robson Square.

To get from Chinatown to Gastown, my mother and I walked several blocks out of our way to avoid the strung-out drug addicts. But we couldn't elude the panhandlers.

With a sharp "no," I brushed them off and we hurried resolutely away from the unnerving shadow of the grimy Downtown Eastside.

Not far from where we'd been walking, a 79-year-old man was recently beaten and robbed in a church, allegedly by a beggar who didn't think the $5 he'd been given was enough.

And last week a man who refused to give away money was attacked in Toronto by a group of panhandlers and fatally stabbed.

In June, my husband and I were startled to see a panhandler at a downtown Toronto intersection apparently using a very pregnant young woman - her swollen belly bared to motorists - as a prop.

The National Anti-Poverty Organization (NAPO) has always argued that people have a right to beg. Perhaps so, if it's prohibited in certain spots and isn't threatening or persistent. But people also have a right to refuse to give money away.

After all, most Canadians pay hefty taxes which fund the kinds of services meant to help marginalized citizens.

NAPO says it's demeaning to paint all panhandlers with the same brush and assume they don't want to work. True. But some clearly prefer getting something for nothing.

The University of Winnipeg's Institute of Urban Studies did a study on panhandling in the Manitoba capital, including interviews with 75 beggars.

Some of them admitted it was their choice not to work, since they weren't prepared to work for minimum wage or accept the regular schedule that a job requires.

"They preferred instead to panhandle, as it provided them with more flexibility," says the report, released several months ago.

Eight of the panhandlers interviewed said they chose to beg because they enjoy it, four reported they could earn more begging than by working, and two admitted they were just lazy and didn't want to work.

Researchers found 10 panhandlers who said they weren't interested in quitting begging. "I like this lifestyle and can travel around. No responsibilities," said one beggar.

Explained another: "I like being free. I don't want to get hooked up in the system. Everything I get every day is free. No worries about paying bills on time or anything."

DRUGS AND BOOZE

The next time you consider giving money to a panhandler, consider that 43% of the beggars interviewed for the University of Winnipeg study conceded they spent some of their panhandling money on booze and 37% said they spent some on illegal drugs. In fact, 15% of them said money for booze or drugs was their first priority.

None of this is meant to minimize the very real problems facing the poor, such as the lack of affordable housing, drug treatment and supports for the mentally ill.

But if you want to help, quit giving money to panhandlers. Many of them are con artists. Give to charities and social service agencies instead.