Did you know that in Canada you can be put in jail for being poor?

[Anonymous]

It's true.
Say you don't have money to pay the crazy car insurance rates, so you drive your $1200 old car without car insurance to go get groceries to survive. Then the cops use their fancy license plate scanner to determine that you don't have insurance. The fine for not having car insurance in this Province is a minimum of $2,875.00 or up to $10,000. Obviously you don't have money to pay the fine because you're driving an old car, and you couldn't even afford insurance to begin with. So they throw you in jail for 6 months. You get out of jail even broker, no job, and if they catch you driving again without insurance the fine is a minimum of $5,000 and up to $20,000. Well, back to jail you go I guess? All because you were broke.

Yes, lock up poor people!

No, you should've just walked on the side of the highway with your groceries.

Updates

+1 y

They need to be realistic and either lower the fines to a reasonable amount so people who are obviously too poor to pay for insurance can manage the fines without going to jail jail for trying to feed their kids. That, or get control of these ridiculous insurance companies who up the premiums to cover their expenses so they never actually have to pay out anything, to anyone.
Or, they need to exercise more leniency on individuals who live outside of a city or town, away from public transportation

[PinkMichae]

So then is it fair that someone doesn't get their car fixed if you cause an accident? Driving isn't a right. It's a privilege. You absolutely walk to get those groceries. I've been there pregnant on top of it. But my husband at the time and I walked to get what we needed or got help from family when they could.

Is there no public transportation? Regardless you get another job to pay for that insurance if you need to drive.

[Asker]

What if you live out in the country?

[PinkMichae]

Then you make sure you can afford too. I live in the rural desert so I know that makes it hard to get to places. But I still wouldn't risk someone not getting their car fixed if I cause an accident.

Plus here in America if you aren't insured for even 1 day they fine you. My insurance company canceled my insurance because there was an issue with my card which my automatic payment didn't go through. They didn't even call me first.

When they cancel they report you to the DMV who in turn sends you the fine.

[Anonymous]

That’s not putting you in jail for being poor. That’s putting in jail for breaking the law.
That’s what jails are for

[Asker]

Yeah I guess poor people just trying to eat, or get to work are quite a danger to society.
Put them in jail and your tax money can feed them 3 meals a day.

[Opinion Owner]

If you can’t afford a car, you are not entitled to one. Sadly, when you cannot afford one, you have to rely on public transportation, or find a job you can walk to.
Driving without insurance can royally fuck another person should you cause an accident, especially if it injures them.
Do you believe the risk of fucking over somebody else is worth it because you can’t afford insurance?

[Asker]

If you live out if town you still need to feed your kids don't you?
Obviously there's no public transportation out there. The insurance companies like to just up their premiums out of nowhere, for no reason and that's why they force some people to decide to either get car insurance or food to feed their family.
If someone gets into an accident they can be sued of put in jail, but I don't believe in the outragiously expensive fines and jail time for people who were never even in an accident.
That's literally extorting money out of people, and putting them in jail for nothing other than the fact that they're poor.

[Opinion Owner]

I agree with you about the cost. Auto insurance in Ontario, where I have family, is a fucking joke. I know they keep raising prices and cutting coverage, only to blame it on “fraud,” while making record profits. So make no mistake, I believe your complaints are valid.
However, breaking the law by driving around uninsured puts other people at risk, and is worthy of a jail sentence.

[Asker]

I guess if you're a fortunate individual who has money, or lives near a grocery store, or has access to public transportation you will have no empathy for the people who don't.
Just throw them in jail on the possibility they might hit your brand new SUV one day, right?
Not because they actually did.
Meanwhile who the hell's gonna feed their kids while they were put in jail because there was no other options.

[Redstang88]

I don’t know what province you’re in but BC has the worst insurance rates in the country but for a cheap old beater insurance still isn’t bad unless you have a terrible record. And the fine for being caught without it is only $600
Insurance is mandatory for a reason, I don’t want to be on the hook when some idiot in rusted out shitbox bangs up my truck

[Asker]

I'm in Alberta. The insurance rates here are ridiculous, and the fines are ridiculous. A person who lives out of town and can't afford insurance will definitely go to jail.
It's a money grab, set up to only benefit those who have money. If you don't, you literally have to choose between feeding your kids or buying insurance.

[Redstang88]

Alberta has some of the lowest rates in the country dude
Paying insurance is just basic adulting, probably shouldn’t be having kids if you can’t handle the bare minimum

[Asker]

I paid insurance for 30 years before they upped my rates to an amount I couldn't afford for nothing.
I never had an accident and have a clean driving record.
Car insurance is a fucking scam and you'll find out when you try to actually collect. They will up your premiums after that so you're gonna pay regardless.

[Redstang88]

Alberta is all private, shop around for better rates
Look man, living in BC my fuel bill is currently more than my rent and that’s before adding on insurance and maintenance. Not feeling very sympathetic

[Asker]

People don't feel empathy for others unless they're in their shoes, or try to imagine being so.
I'm just trying to draw attention to the fact that the fines for no insurance in Alberta are extreme considering it's most likely low income individuals who get these huge fines and possibly have responsibilities like children to feed. They obviously couldn't afford the insurance to begin with and there needs to be some understanding on the part of the government. There needs to be more thought put into this to avoid putting out of town people who have children in jail for trying to get groceries, or to get to work so they can afford the damn insurance one day.
They need to be realistic and either lower the fines to a reasonable amount so people who are obviously too poor to pay for insurance can manage the fines without going to jail jail for trying to feed their kids. That, or get control of these ridiculous insurance companies who up the premiums to cover their expenses so they never actually have to pay out anything, to anyone.
Or, they need to exercise more leniency on individuals who live outside of a city or town, away from public transportation

[exitseven]

When I was in Nova Scotia I looked into what you had to do to become a legal resident. There was a big requirement that you had to be financially able to support yourself, just the opposite of Biden's America where the citizens are second class.

[Asker]

Yes, In Canada we don't allow our immigrants to be as fat and lazy as the people already here.

[exitseven]

In Nova Scotia one of the things that I noticed about the locals was that they were not fat like Americans are. They did not look especially healthy but they were not fat. Fresh food was really expensive. Fruit and vegetables were expensive and not very good. Restaurants served a lot of seafood. They gave you a little piece of fish and a whole pile of french fries.

[Asker]

I never been there.
Canada is so big that Nova Scotia might as well be a different country than Alberta.
They even talk differently.

[exitseven]

Ys, it is different from Montreal or Alberta. It is mostly fishing and tourism.

[Asker]

Lots of guys from Eastern Canada come to Alberta to find work in the Oil and Gas industry.
I used to work with Newfies as they were called.
I couldn't understand some of them because of their thick accents. People in Alberta speak like Americans.

[exitseven]

Thanks for the MHO😎

[Wade12345]

It's called "Vagrancy" in the U. S. If you are walking around and have no money on you in a commercial district, you CAN be arrested in the United States.

[Wade12345]

You are now required to have a LICENSE in the U. S. to panhandle for money, even if you really are poor and need a hand-out. Otherwise, you can go to prison for panhandling without a license. The license typically must be renewed every year.

[Wade12345]

And yes, money you collect through panhandling is taxable income and must be reported on your Federal and State Tax Return.

[Anonymous]

This is what you get in a liberal utopia

[KrakenAttackin]

It's the same in the U. S.