According to a city report, up to half of all properties in P.A. abut onto a back alley. (Alison Sandstrom)

By Alison Sandstrom

Council and the curfew

P.A. city council pushes ahead on Alley Bylaw; hears petition against it

Apr 21, 2020 | 7:42 AM

Prince Albert city councillors heard from the author of a petition against their proposed back alley curfew on Monday night, but remained unfazed in their resolve to move ahead on the issue.

If implemented, the bylaw would mean anyone found in alleys between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. could be questioned by police and subject to a $500-$5,000 fine.

Legal-aid lawyer Estelle Hjertaas has amassed over 150 signatures on an online petition to stop the bylaw. She told council while she didn’t doubt their intentions to combat property crime were good, the effects of the bylaw would be discriminatory.

“To actually reduce crime we need to address the root causes, not find new activities to criminalize,” she said.

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Hjertaas told the meeting the curfew would lead to more people of colour having the police called on them.

“If there’s a clear suspicion of criminal activity, police already have the right to take action,” she told the meeting. “So the reality is that people who are perceived to be suspicious are more likely to be people of colour.”

Hjertaas said being stopped by police can often have harmful consequences, particularly for Indigenous people, and even people who have nothing to hide may run from police based on past negative experiences. If the police ask them to stop, they can be charged with obstruction of a peace officer.

“I’ve had this conversation with my clients over and over again,” she told paNOW after the meeting. “‘Why did you run away? If you had just stopped you wouldn’t have any charges…’ and they say ‘well I panicked I was scared, I ran.'”

Mayor Greg Dionne told paNOW he had no concerns the Alley Bylaw would contribute to racism or discrimination of any kind. He said the city has never had any complaints regarding the parks curfew that has been in place since 2006. In February of this year, council voted to add walkways to that bylaw.

“Somebody’s trying to create a story that’s not there,” Dionne said.

Council voted 7-2 to move forward with the Alley Bylaw. It’s now headed to the next city council meeting on April 27, where it will be up for three readings and final approval.

“We’re going to continue to try to make our community safe,” Dionne said. “Crime is the big issue in P.A. and so anything we can do to address and bring down crime we should be doing it.”

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom