Man fined for giving out free hugs without a permit

A man in a Montreal station was fined by the city’s transport police for giving out free hugs, before the punishment was downgraded to a warning.

Tommy Boucher stood in the station wearing a green t-shirt that promised ‘Free Hugs’ to anyone who walked by.

Two Société de transport de Montréal (STM) agents stopped him – not for a hug, but to find out if his free cuddles were properly permitted.

“They asked me if I had a permit,” Boucher wrote on his blog. “Surprised, I asked which permit?”

He was then fined under STM bylaw R-036, which says that he cannot offer “for sale or lease services of merchandise, or to exhibit or distribute such services or merchandise” without an authorised permit.

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“What I understand of that,” Boucher said, “is that I can wear my t-shirt with “free hugs” written on it… but I can’t open my arms.”

Considering he just stands there with his arms wide and a t-shirt offering free hugs, he decided to contest the fine, “because I don’t sell or lease any services.”

In the end, STM backed down and let Boucher off with a warning, and a request that he do his hugging outside the station rather than in.

“The STM reiterates that this type of activity must be held outside turnstiles for fluidity and safety reasons,” spokesperson Philippe Dery told Montreal CTV News.

Free hugs may be a Brit’s worst nightmare, but Boucher says the Canadians seem to get something out of it.

“I remember one time,” he said, “I met a woman and she cried on my shoulder for 15 minutes, and it was great because I was just sharing that moment with her and she was talking about what was bad at that moment.”