Vagrants in Canada receive monthly welfare payments and are permitted to earn another $200 per month without losing their benefits but some have - according to one transit cop who spoke off the record - found a way to earn up to $700 cash in handouts per day, tax free of course.
One beggar, clad in gypsy clothing from Eastern Europe, has been a fixture on the downtown scene since at least 1997 and now plants herself for about a dozen hours daily near the metro turnstiles at Atwater.
Local merchants say she comes to them with coins worth about $250-$300 per day, that she requests to be changed into bills.
She poses with crutches, although she has no problem walking, and sits on a chair emblazoned with a large Canadian flag. She does not appear to speak English or French but can apparently speak Italian, her husband's language.When an onlooker filmed her walking, she responded by bending over and pointing at her own backside in a vulgar gesture.
Alexis Nihon Plaza security guards apparently cannot force her to leave, as she's technically not in the mall area.
Montreal police do nothing either, as they cite the danger involved in displacing vagrants and also note that they are not doing anything technically criminal, when they're not smoking or drinking or causing a disturbance.
One observer familiar with the characters in the neighbourhood has expressed irritation with the woman, who he believes is deceiving donors by feigning disability.He asked welfare officials whether she could have her payments stopped but they reported that they would need her name and social insurance number, which remain a mystery.
Some claim that she gets picked up by a family member at the end of every day in a late-model automobile but that element of the story has not been confirmed. Anybody who could provide proof either refuting of proving this would be welcome to share their findings.