This week I thought I would delve into the weird and wonderful world of bylaws. They are issued by cities, towns, villages and hamlets across our great land and are supposed to deal with some critical issues that affect people.
Did you know that in Yellowknife you are not allowed to keep a lion as a pet or companion? The bylaw specifies lions, so apparently you are allowed tigers, panthers, cheetahs and any other type of killer cat, except for lions. They could have tried to ban all dangerous animals but that would probably have taken years of debate defining and describing all the critters they think might be dangerous.
Speaking of animals, decades ago I was doing some work in Northern Ontario and checked into an old hotel that was almost entirely built of wood. The ground level was the reception desk and lobby, and the rest was a bar. The only bar in town, so it was a busy place. There was no elevator in the building, so I had to carry my bags and gear up to the third floor where my room was.
When I entered my room and the door closed, I saw a sign on the back of it containing important information. They said by the window I would find the fire escape, which was a coiled and knotted rope. If needed, I was to open the window, throw the rope out, which was tied to the radiator, and climb down to safety. I went to the window and, sure enough the rope was there on a bracket. As I looked down to the ground, I wondered what percentage of the population would be able to climb down it in an emergency in the middle of the night.
Under the fire escape information, it was declared that a town bylaw, dated years ago, prohibited people from bringing a horse or any other livestock into the hotel room. Now, if the town had passed such a law, they must have felt the need for it and one can only assume that someone in the past had indeed brought their horse into their hotel room. Probably to get out of the cold or nasty weather. It must have been quite a chore getting the horse up three flights of stairs.
Apparently, it was written into the bylaw that this warning had to be posted in all hotel rooms and even in the bed and breakfasts in the community. It seems that it is much easier to create a bylaw than get rid of them.
It also seems that every human settlement ends up with a big book full of bylaws. However, the reality is that some are enforced, like traffic rules that bring in a lot of money while other bylaws are completely ignored. Yellowknife seems to have a lot of the latter. They are still on the books, just not enforced.
When was the last time someone got fined for littering, not cleaning up after their dog or idling their vehicle in winter to keep it warm? There are a lot of bylaws that most people have never heard of. Here is an idea: they could put all the bylaws into a book and every citizen would be required to read through them once a year.
The city should also keep track of how many times a bylaw is used or enforced. If they are not being enforced, they should be cancelled or removed from the bylaw book. Some politicians seem to think that if they pass a law about something, they solve the problem, but it doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 work that way. For the law to work, it must be enforced.
Did you know that in a community in PEI, you arenSA国际影视传媒檛 allowed to build a snowman over 30 inches tall? In our nationSA国际影视传媒檚 capital, Ottawa, you canSA国际影视传媒檛 buy ice cream on Sunday on Bank Street. In Alberta, there is a bylaw that says you arenSA国际影视传媒檛 allowed to paint a wooden ladder.
Ah yes, the wonderful world of bylaws, a strange and mysterious place.
