Ottawa’s police and by-law officers may soon have another reason to write you up.
The city’s transportation committee has approved sending a motion by Rideau-Vanier Coun. Georges Bedard that if approved would amend the Use and Care of Roads by-law to prohibit loud, boisterous behavior and indecent language on the city’s streets.
Bedard said the request for the change came from a safety and security committee that includes police and residents. He said the change is necessary in order to give police and by-law officers a tool to deal with unruly behavior.
The proposed amendment has been in place since 2003 in city parks and facilities. Bedard said the nuisance by-law has been effective in parks, so it should be extended to the streets.
“Right now we can control nuisances in the parks but as soon as they leave the parks and go into the streets there is nothing we can do.”
But, according to the city’s chief by-law officer, Linda Anderson, no one has ever been ticketed under the parks nuisance by-law.
Anderson said the city needs the change to make up a legislative gap that has prevented officers from dealing with large groups of people who linger on sidewalks in areas of the ByWard market and Centretown after the bars close.
Bedard said the proposal is important because other than noise violations, the police need to use the criminal code to control behavior.
“Using the criminal code is not a suitable approach, we don’t want to criminalize people for simply causing a nuisance,” said Bedard.
The nuisance amendment has the support of the Hintonburg Community Association and the ByWard Market BIA.
One group challenged the amendment at the meeting, saying it is actually just another attempt to regulate panhandling and cleanse the downtown of homelessness.
Andrew Nellis, a spokesperson from the Ottawa Panhandlers' Union, said the proposal is unacceptable.
“The police will use this law to cast a wide net by criminalizing standard behavior, then they’ll excuse this behavior from people they don’t want to catch, like the nice middle class, then they’ll enforce it against people they do want to catch,” he said.
The city is proposing a $300 fine but is waiting for council to adopt the by-law to consult the province.
Gloucester-South Nepean Coun. Steve Desroches voted against sending the amendment to council. He said he thinks the city already has enough tools to regulate inappropriate behavior and that the by-law’s language seems nebulous.
Council will vote on the amendment on Wednesday.