On Sept. 9, Saskatchewan’s government noted in a news release its recent $17.1 million investment in its “safer communities and neighbourhoods” initiative — money that will go toward the addition of 100 new municipal police officers, the doubling of Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods officers and enhanced training at the Saskatchewan Police College.
But the release also states that the province plans to establish a number of dedicated bylaw “hub” courts similar to the one currently operating in Kindersley, a town sitting in the southwest end of the province, around 400 kilometres outside Regina.
Bronwyn Eyre, Saskatchewan justice minister and attorney general
Eyre insists bylaw infractions are not the “small stuff” people think.
“They are gateway infractions,” she said. “They are the proverbial broken window infraction. So, vicious dogs, graffiti, waste, weed control, trespass. And enforcing bylaws is important to municipalities, but it’s becoming increasingly challenging. Many smaller communities only have a single bylaw enforcement officer. In many cases now the RCMP are not enforcing, for example, dangerous animal provisions. … So, municipalities are having to address these issues through bylaws.”
She confirmed the province was taking its cues from the Kindersley bylaw court, which serves both the immediate area and 42 participating communities.
“We looked at the Kindersley model, and we are signalling that we are going to expand it, and it was very welcomed from municipalities because they are increasingly having to turn to bylaws for enforcement,” said Eyre.
She called the Kindersley court “a great success” — part of that success being the fact that it has “diverted bylaw matters from regular court dockets,” thus leaving room for other matters.
Eyre said the province is currently looking to establish between two and four bylaw courts, but their locations have yet to be determined.
According to a webpage for the Town of Kindersley, its bylaw court was approved in 2017 and currently hears matters both from there in town and from the partnering municipalities, which include the villages of Brock, Plenty and Coleville, and the towns of Kerrobert, Luseland and Elrose.
“The Bylaw Court provides municipalities with a means to enforce bylaws and settle grievances between the municipality and those with a Notice of Violation. It also provides citizens an opportunity to appeal the charges against them,” states the webpage.
The bylaw court is presided over by a justice of the peace. As to why it was created, the webpage states that “fines go unpaid if the municipality doesn’t have the ability” to enforce payment, and that some disputes “require a judicial court” to ensure that both sides are heard.
As for the millions now being put into policing in the province, Eyre said the move came in the wake of concerns heard from residents. She pointed to numbers indicating that Saskatchewan’s overall crime rate continues to be the highest in Canada. She also pointed to places like Saskatoon, where she says police have reported homicides being up as much as 67 per cent so far this year.
“We are hearing increasingly that people don’t feel safe downtown anymore, in communities in Regina, in Saskatoon, in Prince Albert, in North Battleford and in Moose Jaw. I hear it, and I see it, and I think it’s important to empower police to help them.”
Eyre said she has heard concerns straight from the mouths of those in her riding of Saskatoon Stonebridge-Dakota.
“In my constituency — it’s an urban constituency — there are people who tell me that they no longer feel safe [going on] … walks through the park; that they regularly feel intimidated; that they’ve experienced theft right outside their homes, their businesses, even in the middle of the day.”
The province’s new investments in policing include:
- $11.9 million for around 100 new municipal police officers;
- $2.7 million towards doubling the number of Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods officers from 14 to 28; and
- $2.5 million over the next three years for the Saskatchewan Police College.
Also, the province is giving $3.8 million to the Regina Police Service to hire 32 new frontline officers.
Interestingly, local news reported back in May that Regina Police statistics found there was an 8.5 per cent overall decrease in total crimes against people and property in the city from around that time the year before.
To this, Eyre said that Regina is just one jurisdiction, stressing again that crime is “among the top issues” she is hearing “at the doors.”
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