Canadian Town Bans Spitting, Swearing And Gathering In Groups Of Three Or More
from the law-enforcement-brain-trust-baffled-by-backlash dept
Taber, a town of 8,100 in Alberta, Canada, must be in the midst of the nation's smallest and least impressive crimewave. How else would you explain the town's new "Community Standards Bylaw," which imposes the following on its residents?With a sweeping new bylaw, the southern Alberta town of Taber has outlawed swearing in public, instituted a nightly curfew on kids and teenagers, and granted local law enforcement the power to break up any assemblies of three or more people.It's petty enough in the summary, but it gets even worse in the fine print.
Here's the "swearing" part of the bylaw:
No person shall yell, scream, or swear in any Public Place.Which won't hold up to Canada's free speech laws, even with the plentiful exceptions the government can enact at any time. And it will apparently be up to patrolling officers to decide when a raised voice constitutes a "yell," and always with one ear cocked towards any errant public swearing occuring at lower volumes.
Then there's this part of the bylaw, which makes possibly disturbing others a crime.
No persons shall, during any period of the day allow, suffer or permit any electronic equipment, musical instruments, vehicles or any other devices to be sounded or used in any area of the Town of Taber, that may, or is likely, to disturb others.There's also a clause apparently inserted by Taber's Behavior Nazis solely to anger the world's Grammar Nazis.
And bad cops will have all sorts of fun with this one:
No person shall be a member of the assembly of three or more persons in any Public Place where a Peace Officer has reasonable grounds to believe the assembly will disturb the peace of the neighborhood, and any such person shall disperse as requested by a Peace Officer."Reasonable grounds." As is common to the rest of the bylaw, criminal intent is scuttled in preference of "whatever the Peace Officer believes."
So, what has prompted this move towards a more controlled populace? The answer appears to be that it's just something the town's law enforcement wanted.
[Police Commission Chairman Ken] Holst said the goal of the bylaw was “to give another layer of tools to our police service.”Ah, the old "thoughtcrime," as practiced by loitering youths. Holst didn't want this community of 8,100 to suffer the existential threat posed by aimless teens, so he and his law enforcement buddies helped write the bylaw.
He said it came largely in response to concerns raised by citizens in a survey commissioned by the Taber Police Service.
“Graffiti was the main concern and the second concern was large gatherings of youth and other people on town property, sometimes causing issues,” he said.
While some of those issues could be addressed through existing provincial and federal laws, Holst said Taber wanted to empower its law enforcement when an offence is “imminent to occur,” which he described as “preventative policing.”
Holst said the bylaw was drafted by town staff and the Taber Police Service and was reviewed by the police commission before being sent on to town council, where it was approved by a 6-1 vote.And, since it was written by law enforcement, there was apparently no need to ensure the bylaw didn't violate anyone's rights or would even hold up in court. Because who knows the law better than law enforcement officers? No one, that's who. Just ask any cop.
Holst said no lawyers were involved in the police commission’s review and they didn’t discuss whether aspects of the bylaw would violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms…Because screw the public.
“Exactly how that sits with the Charter, to be 100 per cent honest with you, that discussion did not come up with the commission,” Holst said.
Save that 100%, Holst. You're going to need it. Here's an actual legal expert with 45 years experience, and he's of the opinion there's a 100% chance it's in violation.
“It clearly, clearly infringes the Charter,” [Michael] Dietrich said.And now that the ridiculous bylaw has drawn mockery from around the internet, Holst and other city representatives are shocked and saddened by all the criticism.
“It hurts my heart,” Ken Holst said Tuesday. “I’m hurt today to read some of the extreme comments that have circulated on social media...”Holst further defended his stupid bylaw by pointing to other similarly stupid Canadian towns that have enacted similarly stupid bylaws. Presumably, this belated justification will also not be run by any legal experts -- armchair or actual -- who may point out that two wrongs still don't equal a right, no matter what some informal, police-guided survey might "indicate."
“We really feel this is the best for Taber and makes it a better place, as opposed to ‘the worst place on Earth,’ as the way some people are portraying this,” he said.
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Filed Under: alberta, association, canada, free speech, swearing, taber, yelling
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One good thing will come out of this
oh wait... *I* do that..
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Re: One good thing will come out of this
That's why the citizens group Save Us Bacon is arguing that Taber needs a hero. And that hero, they say, is Kevin Bacon.
The group's goal is to raise enough money to pay Bacon to fly to Taber to host a "raucous dance party/protest against an embarrassing, archaic, vaguely worded law passed by an out of touch town-council — held of course, just outside of Taber. Help us bring a big city kid to a small town who knows he has to win."
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Re: Re: One good thing will come out of this
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kNX09-De8M&t=16s)
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It sounds like the Taber Police Service has quite enough tools already.
(Wait, does that count as swearing?)
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It's for the greater good...
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Re: It's for the greater good...
But hey, it is for the greater good. I didn't disturb anyone.
But those people in the fire sure did.
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Re: Re: It's for the greater good...
Some people just will not be quite!
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Re: Re: It's for the greater good...
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Re: Re: Re: It's for the greater good...
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Re: Re: Re: Re: It's for the greater good...
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Re: Re: Re: Re: It's for the greater good...
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Re: It's for the greater good...
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Seems they've taken a leaf out of Dolores Umbridge's book, that was one of the decrees she passed to go after Harry Potter.
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/Said in a toned down voice
"Hey lady, look out for that.."
/Bus runs over lady.
"...nevermind."
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How I read it
At first glance I totally read it as ...
“to give another layer of tools to our police state.”
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Re: How I read it
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Well that puts church meeting and the like out of bounds.
More seriously what about 4 or more adult siblings going out for a meal?
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Re:
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Sounds like the police could shut down everything
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Re: Sounds like the police could shut down everything
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Re: Re: Sounds like the police could shut down everything
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Re: Sounds like the police could shut down everything
Happens probably rarely enough not to warrant police attention.
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Though I've got to wonder, are Canadian (and British) police anywhere near as foul-mouthed as their American counterparts?
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Re:
Que descriptions here, but please refrain from groups more than two, or YELLING, as you may offend some undefined sensibilities.
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And what about the poor buskers? Whatever did they do to deserve this?
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Re:
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Re: This is the purpose of separation of powers.
I doesn't matter who originally wrote the law but you should be more skeptical if the person writing the law is directly involved with the enforcing of it or is on the receiving end of it.
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Re:
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"Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
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two wrongs still don't equal a right
In a typical street layout, 3 left turns equal a right... so do we just need 3 wrongs?
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How many idiots, to screw in a light bulb?
"No person shall be a member of the assembly of three or more persons in any Public Place where a Peace Officer has reasonable grounds to believe the assembly will disturb the peace of the neighborhood,"
So this has nothing to do with Public annoyance? its IF' the police THINK its a disturbance..
So, as a public Citizen, I cant DECLARE the counsel an assembly WILL disturb the populace??
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Re: How many idiots, to screw in a light bulb?
Taber, If we don't like you and your not breaking the law, we'll change the law.
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FUCK FUCK FUCK FAP FAP FUCK FUCK FUCK FAP FAP
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Re:
Good point. The internet is a "public place". Stop using "all caps" there, friend, or I'll have to report you.
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My traffic accident
Now because of the accident my horn is blowing loudly, and if I get out yell a profanity at the cop (because of the horn of course), and my friends get out and yell at the cop, we all get fined and maybe jailed because the cop screwed up!
Sounds like Canada!
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Re: My traffic accident
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laws in Canada?
If so, does that mean I cam arrest a Taber police officer if I hear him swearing?
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Re: laws in Canada?
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Well
I'll get my coat.
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Re: Well
It's been illegal in professional baseball for pitchers to scratch their balls (or wax, tar, grease, or spit on them) since 1920 -- long before the Blue Jays were born -- even though the tradition lingered on for many decades post-ban.
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Maybe the town council is a crazy sect like in that british movie
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And they didn't think of...
Everything, even the wording, reminds me of the show called Farscape and their peace keepers who are a bunch of nazi wannabe aholes.
YES I said aholes... what are you gonna do? arrest me? Hey what are you doing in my house? Get that nightstick out of my face...
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1. no complicated drafting process. Just get it done quickly.
2. put the law into effect.
3. people have to abide the law.
Alternative: do not abide and fight the law. Make sure that you can afford the legal battle and the risk involved.
Until someone finally goes this road, the law has done what it's creators wanted.
More over, since no one gets punished for making bad laws, it doesn't stop them from doing it over and over again. I suppose they assess and estimate the time period their bad law presumably will remain in effect right from the start. If it remains unchallenged any time longer, it's a bonus 'win'.
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Large Gathering
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Last Call
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Re: Last Call
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Sounds like they have plans for Canada
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Congratulations kids
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That said, this is BS move by the city council.
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Re: small towns everywhere
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Cut them some slack
Look, they're causing issues, which can be really really dangerous. Or am I thinking of crocodiles?
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And just like that
I can testify that I sleep much better now that I am living in a solitary house away from travelled roads than when I lived in a city.
So any vehicle sounding at night is provably disturbing my sleep. If I ever move to Taber, I can demand that nobody drives a car in town at night. Or during my nap.
That's impressive. To say the least.
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Re: And just like that
Possibly alarm clocks as well (or their more modern variations).
And of course sirens of all kind.
...
"Welcome to Taber, the Quietest Town on Earth"
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Re: And just like that
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These are similar to the laws put in place on Native American Reservations/prisons, along with being illegal to speak in there own American languages.
It was good for them, now its good for you too..
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"Hey, you in the dress with the holes in the hands! Lemme see some ID..."
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It's not a big deal people...
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Not a place for me
Although, the whole thing sounds like a great plot for an educational family movie.
Hey, whatever happened to those types of movies anyway? You know, the ones with a "moral of the story."
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law
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More evil is committed by the "We Meant Well" crowd than any other group.
More crime is committed by those in authority than by those under it.
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Update Us, Eh?
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