Montreal police ticket HOMELESS person for breaking curfew

The man was on his way to a warming shelter in the area, as was his routine after scouring garbage cans for something edible, according to Andreane Desilets, a shelter worker.

"Anybody in their pyjamas going out and looking in garbage (bins)—for me that's a situation where somebody should not be ticketed and at least brought into a center or have a little empathy to the situation," iterated Desilets.

The man received a $1550 ticket for breaking the lockdown regulations which went into effect a week ago.

According to iHeart Radio, police in Montreal had already been called out for ticketing a homeless person a few days ago.

"Giving huge monetary punishments to people who have nothing or who have very little is not an effective remedy," said Dylan Jones, a lawyer working pro bono on cases like this, during a radio interview.

"It's to send a message too, that we shouldn't treat people this way."

Montreal police released a statement which said only that officers must use discretion when people have justified reasons for breaking curfew.