EPS, Edmonton city staff working to tighten bylaws on pepper and bear sprays
Officers in Edmonton want to crack down on a rise in pepper and bear spray use in urban areas and on Tuesday updated city councillors on desired bylaw changes that would give them more power.
Possessing non-restricted oleoresin capsicum (OC) spray is legal in Canada but Edmonton Police Service believes there are gaps in federal and provincial laws that make the products easy for criminals to use.
Right now, officers can only seize canisters that are used in a crime or are voluntarily surrendered by the owner, but police said criminals are tampering with the products making the cans more dangerous and harder to identify.
"With a lack of tools for frontline police stakeholders, we require a remedy to prevent the non-criminal discharge and carry of OC spray," Acting Sgt. Andrew Furman said at a meeting of the Community and Public Services Committee.
"We just want to make sure that people who are legitimate users of these products are conducting themselves in a safe and prudent manner."
Police want bylaw changes to make it illegal to tamper with or remove safety mechanisms. Tampering with, covering, or removing labels on the canisters would also be banned. Both of those acts would be possession offences regardless of whether or not a person uses the spray.
EPS also wants it to be a "nuisance-type offence for negligent discharge in a public place" and the service is asking for a broader definition of the sprays and business rules that are more consistent.
Officers said only some stores are requiring I.D. and maintaining records of who bought the spray.
OC sprays, which are often sold as protection against bears and dogs, are being used in parks and greenspaces only 2 per cent of the time, according to EPS data from 2015-21.
The service says 75 per cent of the time the sprays are involved in cases it's within 100 metres of bus stops and transit centres with more than 10,000 recorded incidents in the six years studied.
Overall, recorded "bear-spray-related occurrences" have risen from 1,711 in 2015 to 3,273 in 2021, EPS said.
The committee decided unanimously to accept EPS' report for information. City administrators will continue to work with EPS to draft bylaw changes, which will then require final approval from council.
"I was just astounded by the number of uses of the pepper spray, so it was a concern to me," Coun. Jo-Anne Wright said.
"I do appreciate the fact that EPS, our peace officers, our legal [staff] and everybody is going to work together on this."
The changes will likely be made in the public spaces and business bylaws which were already being updated.
"I think this will give an additional tool to EPS to reduce harm as well as hopefully reduce the number of [OC spray] incidents that we have seen in our city," Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said.
"This is not going to harm anyone. This is actually going to end up improving public safety and public places for people to enjoy."
Chilliwack and Surrey B.C. both have municipal bylaws on pepper and bear spray.
In 2021, then-Alberta justice minister Kaycee Madu penned a letter to the federal government to amend the Criminal Code so people could carry and use pepper spray in self-defence. The Liberal government rejected the idea.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.