As we reported in some great detail yesterday, Montreal will be putting through a new bylaw that will lead to fighters being slapped with $500 fines for a first offense for fighting in the street, and $1000 for a second such offence. It should come into force this summer.
City Councillor Alex Norris supports the idea but insists on the word "altercation" being removed from the wording of the bylaw. He believes that it could be applied as such to arguments and that, in turn, would be ruled unconstitutional.
The bylaw was the idea of the police commander of the police area covering the Southern Plateau. Bars along the Main between Sherbrooke and Pine had become a battleground for suburbanites who hadn't managed to find the gentle company of a female at night's end.
Police could only pursue fights on the criminal level and people usually said they didn't want to press charges, or simply didn't cooperate with procedings when they advanced that far.
The St. Lawrence Street Merchants Association was also instrumental in getting this through, as they would have otherwise been forced by police to close their terraces at 1 am on street-closure festival evenings without the law.
City Councillor Alex Norris supports the idea but insists on the word "altercation" being removed from the wording of the bylaw. He believes that it could be applied as such to arguments and that, in turn, would be ruled unconstitutional.
The bylaw was the idea of the police commander of the police area covering the Southern Plateau. Bars along the Main between Sherbrooke and Pine had become a battleground for suburbanites who hadn't managed to find the gentle company of a female at night's end.
Police could only pursue fights on the criminal level and people usually said they didn't want to press charges, or simply didn't cooperate with procedings when they advanced that far.
The St. Lawrence Street Merchants Association was also instrumental in getting this through, as they would have otherwise been forced by police to close their terraces at 1 am on street-closure festival evenings without the law.
Is this the post you are referring to?
ReplyDeleteFighting in Montreal will never be the same after last night. Call it the end of an era. New measures will soon be passed to lay stiff fines on anybody who fights in public in the City of Montreal.
In the past, combatants in streetfights were charged only when one party wanted to press charges.
But last night Montreal's city council, under public security's Claude Trudel, started the process that will change all that by summer.
As soon as the bylaw gets passed (without a few weeks) there will be a $150 fine if you're in a streetfight. I was also told that it's a $500 fine, so that particular element is unclear.
Previously streetfights fell under the criminal category so a witness and court date were required and that stuff is time-consuming, expensive and usually results in people just not showing up.
So there will be no more walking away or declining to press charges, as it was in the past. In the past streetfights were governed by the anti-noise bylaw. But that is no longer the case.
The one wrinkle now is that the bylaw in its current wording describes both streetfighting and "altercations." But altercations is a word that some would like taken out, as it could relate to verbal disputes. And such a ban on arguing in public would not likely be ruled constitutional.
There are apparently several other municipalities around Montreal that have anti-streetfighting bylaws already. This one was pushed for by Station 38 Commander Stephane Belanger, whose zone includes the Southern Plateau.
The problem is specifically the bars on the Main between Sherbrooke and Pine.
At closing time suburban boys who had too much alcohol and not enough success with the ladies come looking to do battle. It has become a big problem and the neighbours and police are sick of it.
Police said that this year, during the festival season terraces would have to close at 1 a.m. because otherwise they'd be overwhelmed by dealing with the fights and the terrace closings. Informed of this, the St. Lawrence Merchants association, which is dominated by bars, lobbied the city to get this reversed.
Only way to do that is to put in place fines on streetfights.
City Councillor Alex Norris says supports the bylaw. "We need to give police tools to ensure that fights don’t take place and don’t escalate when they do,l"
he tells Coolopolis. "We believe fines would have a significant dissuasive effect if people get into these brawls," However he's looking to scratch the word "altercations" from the text and has asked Vision and the Tremblays to agree to do that.
The bylaw, which would cover the entire City of Montreal, will be introduced on Monday and passed sometime this summer.
This, of course, leads to the question of whether people will be receiving fines simply for defending themselves against attack. So expect this to raise some interesting excuses before municipal judges.
Off-topic: I'm so happy to have found this blog about my beautiful city from which I have been separated by professional considerations. I will now follow your blog faithfully.
ReplyDeleteOh, I miss Montreal.
Hi Kristian, I'm a born and raised Montrealer who left after finishing university (1992) and just recently returned to live and raise my young family. I stumbled upon your blog and am so glad I did. Since returning I've not only been trying to catch up with local news where I last left off but also am trying to get reacquainted with the city and to try and make some sense of it for my husband (who is not from here). We appreciate your interesting topics, sense of humour and thoroughness and will now be regular readers. We've been looking for someone who can give a really good guided tour, preferably someone with deep historial knowledge and who can show us the underbelly of the city (I'll be buying your book asap for some background). Do you know anyone who offers this service?
ReplyDeleteI think Donovan King gave a walking tour of the red light with somebody a few days ago, perhaps he'll do another one soon. He doesn't know as much as me but I'm not keen on giving walking tours personally.
ReplyDeleteIf you were to just stroll around looking for cool places I'd recommend Cote des Neiges Boul. around the Plaza etc, and Victoria street on its glorious ethnic strip (I'm a sucker for the exotic) as well as Jean Talon in Park Extension, there's a coupla legendary restaurants up around there too. I'd check out Bar Chez Francoise where they hire these cheesy local singers to do their acts on stage, it's on St. Catherine East. Of course I love the Golden Square Mile. I just can't get enough. Mile End is supposed to be the hottest spot in town but I'm not too dazzled by Mile End or the Plateau, I like 'em a lot but I don't really love 'em. I live in NDG and parts of Sherbrooke and Monkland are okay for walks but I wouldn't say they're off the charts or nuthin.
I guess I should mention Dante Street too, sometimes I bring my kids there to that pizzeria with the lineup, I like the vibe there, it's right near the Gene Tallin market.
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