Concerning Safety, Peace and Order in Public Areas

Enforceable By The Sureté Du Québec

CANADA

PROVINCE OF QUEBEC

MUNICIPALITY OF SHAWVILLE

BY-LAW S.Q. 2023-02

CONCERNING SAFETY, PEACE AND ORDER IN PUBLIC AREAS

ENFORCEABLE BY THE SURETÉ DU QUÉBEC

WHEREAS        under section 85 of the Municipal Powers Act (Q.R.S., chapter C-47, 1), any local municipality may adopt by-laws to ensure peace, order, good government and the general welfare of its population;

WHEREAS        the municipality has received a request from the MRC of Pontiac asking that it update its by-laws relating to penal matters, and

WHEREAS        Councillor Julien Gagnon, gave notice of motion at a regular meeting of council held July 11, 2023

        CONSEQUENTLY   it is moved by Katie Sharpe, that this by-law number 2023-02 abrogate and replace all interior By-Laws relating to safety, peace and order in public areas, as enforceable by the Sureté du Québec.

IT IS ALSO RESOLVED that this by-law be adopted:

“Preamble”    SECTION 1  The preamble forms an integral  part of this by-law.

                         The schedules attached to this by-law form an integral part of it.

“Interpretation” SECTION 2 For purposes of this by-law,          unless the context indicates otherwise, this shall be the meaning of words used herein:

                         Peace agent

                                  A member of the Sureté du Québec.

                         Proper authority

                         Any police officer, firefighter or other person or service designated by Council.

                 Municipal property

                         Any goods, whether moveable or immoveable, belong to the municipality,

including trees, shrubs, lawns, flowers, flower pots, traffic signs, fountains, stands, lampposts, garbage bins, playground equipment, play items, pools, showers, parking meters, parks and all other things intended for public use.

                 Council

                         The municipal council.

                 Public areas

                         All roads, streets, lanes, place or public ways, alleys, passages, sidewalks, stairways, gardens, parks, tennis courts, multifunctional tracks, bicycle paths, promenades, playgrounds, stages, parking areas intended for public use, whether belonging to the municipality or not, or any other interior or exterior places of gathering with public access, including waste lands with public access, and interior spaces of shopping malls.

                 Public events

                         All activities organized for the general public, whether for profit or not, at a place or in an area that are public or not, including namely community meals, fairs, circuses, merry-go-rounds and road shows, including parties and festivals.

                 Street furniture

                         All equipment, structures or goods installed on public ways or in public areas or areas within the municipality.

                 Occupant

                         All persons occupying a dwelling, a building or a lot under the terms of a verbal agreement or a written lease, as well as the owner if on the premises.

                 Person   All natural or legal entity, including companies, unions, corporations and all groups or associations having an interest in a dwelling or a residential building as owners, co-owners, mortgage’s, liquidators or other. This terms also includes guards, tenants or occupants when the situation requires it.

                 Road vehicle 

                         A motorized vehicles that can travel on a roadway, including but not limited to all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, trailers, semi-trailers, detachable axles, and motorcycles.

                         However, vehicles that can only run on rails and electrical powered wheelchairs are excluded from the definition of road vehicles

                 Public ways

                                  All surfaces of lots, the maintenance of which is the responsibility of the municipality, its organizations, on which one or more than one roadway have been built for public access.

                                  Includes roadways, sidewalks, green spaces, shoulders, rights of way, bicycle paths, medians and ditches. Also includes streets, places, parks, public squares, public lanes, public passageways, bridges, bridges, bridge approaches, avenues, boulevards, roads, overpasses, tunnels and all other areas intended for public access by road vehicle riders, cyclists and pedestrians.

“Alcoholic beverages”

              SECTION 3  In a public area or inside a road vehicle, no one may consume alcoholic beverages or have in his or her possession a container of alcoholic beverage with an unsealed opening, except if a sales license was issued by the Régie des alcohols, des courses et des jeux.

“Mischief”     SECTION 4  No one may draw, paint, mark, destroy, break, shake, cut, degrade, deteriorate, damage, make dirty in any way possible or otherwise displace municipal goods or street furniture.  

                         The act of pasting or posing labels or graffiti on municipal property or street furniture.

“White weapon” SECTION 5  No one may be found on a public way or in a public area, whether on foot or in a public vehicle, with possession of a white weapon, a knife, a sword, a machete, a slingshot, a pea shooter or any other weapon or object that could be used as a weapon, without a legitimate excuse. 

                         Self-defence does not constitute a reasonable excuse for purposes of this section.

“Fire”         SECTION 6  No one may ignite a fire or maintain a fire ignited in a public area without a permit.

                         The municipality or one of its representatives may issue a permit authorizing a fire for a specific event, subject to the following conditions:

  1. The applicant shall undertake to ensure constant supervision of premises by a responsible major person.
  • A safety area as decided by the municipality shall be established by the applicant, so that neighbouring areas and the general public are protected.
  • The applicant shall undertake to follow all applicable safety standards.
  • The applicant shall ensure that an extinguishing product or agent is present, and in sufficient quantity.
  • The applicant shall demonstrate that he or she possesses the appropriate public liability insurance.
  • No open fire ban by the proper authorities shall be in force.
  • The applicant agrees to comply with all applicable municipal and regional by-laws pertaining to fire prevention and outdoor fires.

“Organic waste”          

              SECTION 7  It is prohibited for anyone to urinate or defecate on private property, public ways or public areas of the municipality, except in places specifically established for such purposes.

“Games/roadways”         

              SECTION 8  No one may carry-out or take part in a game or an activity on a roadway.

                         The municipality or one of its representatives may issue a permit for a specific event under conditions set by Council.

“Public disturbance”     

              SECTION 9  No one may act in such a way as to disturb public peace or tranquillity, namely in the following manner:

  1. No one may cause, provoke, encourage or take part in a fight or skirmish, or behave violently on a public way or in a public area;
  • No one may blaspheme or use insulting, injurious or disturbing language with respect to another person.

“Projectiles”  SECTION 10 No one may throw projectiles on a public way or in a public area. 

“Drones”       SECTION 11 No one may use a drone in a careless or negligent manner, in such a way as to endanger or risk endangering aviation safety or the safety of anyone else.

                         It is an offence to use drones in a manner that may be regarded as:

  1. voyeurism;
  2. mischief
  3. a nuisance
  4. infringing on an individual’s property;
  5. collecting personal information about an individual on private property;
  6. a violation of provincial, municipal, federal or other laws.

“Personal information” is defined as any information relating to an identifiable individual. It may be a name, a photograph of a person’s face or a licence plate number.

”Lasers”     SECTION 12    No one may use a laser of more than outside a private residence

                         Outside a private residence, possession of a laser of less than 1 mw must be used for a legitimate reason for example for use in the course of work

“Activities”   SECTION 13 No one may organize, direct or participate in a parade, march or run that may interfere with the usual flow of traffic on a public roadway or in a public area without having first obtained a permit from the municipality or the Ministère des Transports et de la mobilité durable (MTMD) in the case of an activity planned on a provincial roadway.

                         The municipality or one of its representatives may issue a permit authorizing the holding of an activity under the following conditions.

  1. the applicant shall first submit a detailed plan to the municipality and demonstrate that this activity is safe.  

Funerals processions and weddings are exempt from obtaining such a permit.

                         The person organizing or conducting such an activity must ensure that the participants comply with the laws and provincial and municipal regulations in force and if they do not, they are committing an offence. 

“Loitering”    SECTION 14 No one may sleep, shelter, beg or loiter on a public way, or in a public area.

“Gathering”    SECTION 15 No person shall take part in any noisy, tumultuous or disorderly assembly or gathering, or do any rude, profane, offensive or abusive act on a public way or in any public place.

“School”       SECTION 16 No one may be present on the grounds of a school during normal opening hours, without a reasonable motive.

“Park”         SECTION 17 No one may be present in a park or on the grounds of a school or church at times prohibited by way of signs.

                         The municipality or one of its representatives may issue a permit for a specific event under conditions set by Council.

“Safety area”  SECTION 18 No one may cross or be present inside a safety area established by the proper authorities and marked with signs (ribbons, barriers, etc.), unless specifically authorized to do so.

“Free access”  SECTION 19 The obstruction or cluttering, without a legitimate motive, of pedestrian passageways or the access of road vehicles to a public way or in a public area, or the obstruction of the passage or the door to a house or yard is prohibited.  All owners and occupants of buildings shall keep sidewalks in front and on the side of such buildings free from all obstruction, including hedges and other shrubs. 

“Alcohol/drugs”          

              SECTION 20 No one who is under the influence of alcohol or drugs may be present in a public area or on a public way.

Alarm-Call     SECTION 21 No one may voluntarily set off any fire alarm or call the police or any member of the public security service without reasonable cause.

APPLICATION

“Responsibility”         

              SECTION 22 The application of this by-law is the responsibility of the peace agents of the   Sureté du Québec.  It is also the responsibility of municipal inspectors, and other persons designated by a resolution of the council.

“Proceedings”  SECTION 23 All peace agents of the Sureté du Québec, municipal inspectors and other persons designated by a resolution Council are authorized to issue a statement of violation and to undertake legal proceedings for any violation to this by-law, in accordance with the Quebec Code of criminal procedure (R.S.Q., c. C-25).

“Inciting”     SECTION 24 The act of helping, inciting or encouraging anyone else to commit a violation of this by-law is prohibited.

“Insulting”    SECTION 25 The act of insulting, abusing, blaspheming or molesting a peace agent or any other person designated by a resolution of the council, during the performance of their duties, is prohibited.

“Refusal to obey”        

              SECTION 26 The act of refusing to obey or comply with an order issued by a peace agent, a municipal inspector or any other person designated by a resolution of Council, during the performance of their duties, is prohibited.

                         Furthermore, it is forbidden for anyone to refuse to help or provide assistance as requested by a peace agent, a municipal inspector or any other person designated by a resolution of Council, during the performance of their duties.

                         The act of disturbing the work of firefighters, police officers, ambulance attendants or other municipal workers, is prohibited.

                         The act of anyone refusing to leave a building or a lot when requested to do so by a peace agent acting in the name of the owner, the tenant or the occupant, or one of their representatives, is prohibited.

PENAL PROVISIONS

“Penalties”    SECTION 27 Without prejudice to any other possible recourse, whoever contravenes a provision of this by-law is liable to a fine of two hundred and fifty dollars ($250.00) in the case of a natural person, and five hundred dollars ($ 500.00) in the case of an legal entity person, for a first infraction; the fine is five hundred dollars   ($ 500.00) in the case of a natural person, and one thousand dollars ($ 1000.00) in the case of a legal entity, for any repeat offence during the following year; in each case, legal expenses shall be additional. 

“Civil remedy” SECTION 28 Criminal proceedings shall be without prejudice or limitation to any other recourse to be taken by the municipality, including all civil remedies before any court of law, including the municipal one, to recover the expenses incurred as a result of the violation of this by-law.

“Revocation of permit”

              SECTION 29 All peace agents of the Sureté du Québec, municipal inspectors and other persons designated by a resolution of Council may revoke a permit in the case of a violation to the municipal by-law; he or she shall immediately inform the municipality of any such action taken. 

“Abrogation”   SECTION 30 This by-law abrogates all previous municipal by-laws including By-Laws 2011-02, which are incompatible with its provisions.

“Coming into force”      

              SECTION 31 This by-law shall be effective according to law.

By-Law 2023-02 was adopted by the Municipal Council during a meeting held August 8, 2023 and signed by the Mayor and the Director General

__________________________           ______________________

Bill McCleary                          Crystal Webb

Mayor                                Director General

CERTIFICATE OF PUBLICATION

     I, the undersigned, residing in Bristol, Québec, do hereby certify under my oath of office, that I have published the public notice relating to By-Law No. S.Q. 2023-02 by posting two copies thereof, at the places designated by the Council between the hours of two and four o’clock in the afternoon on the 11th day of August 2023.

                             ____________________________

                                     Crystal Webb

                                   Director General