REGINA – After a somewhat contentious council meeting on Wednesday, Regina council has voted in favour of opting in to the provincial Safe Public Spaces Act.
Council ultimately voted yes to the recommendation coming from the Regina Board of Police Commission that council draft a bylaw to opt into that provincial legislation, which seeks to clamp down on street weapons.
But it was hardly smooth sailing, with several delegations as well as some members of council expressing various concerns about it during the meeting.
The main concern expressed was about the definition of street weapons under the Act. While the Act did include in that definition items such as bear spray, machetes, and 30 cm or larger knives, it also included hypodermic needles not used for legitimate medical purposes, fentanyl not used for legitimate medical purposes, and methamphetamine.
Those latter definitions brought out opposition from a host of delegations at the meeting, who voiced concern about a lack of consultation. They expressed alarm that the Act would target unhoused people, those suffering from addiction, and other vulnerable groups.
There were also fears expressed that it would target harm reduction. One presenter raised concern this marked a shift in public policy away from harm reduction and decriminalization, and towards forced treatment that would criminalize and stigmatize drug users.
On the other side, council heard from Acting Police Chief Lorilee Davies of Regina Police Service. She reiterated this Act was simply another tool to deal with weapons, and to seize weapons without laying a Criminal Code charge or even issuing a ticket. She also said this Act did not give police additional search powers.
Davies also explained that previously they would charge people for carrying or possessing bear spray under the Wildlife Control Act. But with the new Safe Public Spaces Act, that previous legislation was repealed. “We no longer have the ability to ticket for the possession of bear spray without opting into this legislation,” she told council.
When it came to a decision on whether to opt in, council was split on the issue. Several council members including Councillors David Froh and Sarah Turnbull voiced concern that they didn’t have enough information to make a decision; there were also concerns raised that council only found out about this motion the previous Friday.
Council Shanon Zachidniak voiced similar concerns and she moved a tabling motion for six months so they could get more information. But that vote ended up failing by a 6-5 vote.
The main motion to opt in then came to a vote, and that carried by a 7-4 vote. Councillors Zachidniak and Victoria Flores voted against, while councillors Froh and Turnbull abstained and their votes were recorded as “no” by rule.
The next step will be the preparation of the actual bylaw to opt into the provincial legislation, and the initial indication is that will come back to the next council meeting.
In speaking to reporters following the meeting Mayor Chad Bachynski said that after hearing all of the perspectives, “I feel there are more pros in opting in in giving Regina Police the tools they need, and also hearing we are clearly on a path of valuing harm reduction in our community.”
Bachynski was referring to comments at the meeting from Acting Police Chief Davies, who voiced the support of Regina Police for harm reduction.
As for those still worried that carrying needles or personal narcotics might put them at risk of being arrested or ticketed, Bachynski said he had “full confidence in Regina Police.”
“We heard today iterated multiple times that is not the intent. That’s not what we do today, and that’s not what we intend to do in the future. And ultimately it’s up to Regina Police to continue to demonstrate that trust in a way that that’s how we operate.”
In speaking to reporters, Davies made it known that the main focus of police was on other items besides needles.
“For us, the big concern is bear spray and knives that we see in the city,” said Davies. “It’s important for us to be able to have that at our disposal in dealing with issues that really impact public safety in the city.”
As for the concerns raised that opting in to the Act could target harm reduction and safe supply items such as needles, Davies said Regina Police was “committed to harm reduction.”
“I don’t see instances where we are taking clean needles away from people who need them. We don’t under any circumstances want to criminalize people that are facing active addictions. That is a health issue, that is not a criminal issue. I know for a lot of folks that was the crux of the argument of needles and drugs being classified as a weapon. I don’t see us using the legislation in that manner. I think for us it’s really around knives, it’s really around bear spray, and there are other tools — health tools, treatment tools — that are better left to address the issues of addictions in the community.”
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