Vancouver tightens screws on homeless paper

City of Vancouver staff are recommending that city council force Megaphone, Vancouver's homeless street paper to register as a charity.

Editor Sean Condon was seeking a license because vendors had been complaining that police and private security guards had been moving them out of public space saying that they did not have a license to sell. The paper has been operating for 16 years without a license.

Condon feels the charity requirement will muzzle the paper's social advocacy efforts, as the resources registered charities can spend on advocacy are severely limited. "Becoming a registered charity in Canada means we'll have restrictions on how much time and resources we can spend advocating for political issues. As a media organization, we should have the freedom to speak out on issues that affect marginalized people in Vancouver without any restraints."

Internationally, the Big Issue, another homeless paper, has street vendors in almost every major city worldwide, and is not a registered charity, although they work with a partner foundation that addresses issues of financial literacy.