With Public Spaces Bylaw going to City Council on February 14, our public spaces are proposed to prioritize certain people’s use of public space at the expense of others. See our blog for our full position on it.

We want to give you a tool to raise your voice to ensure that the Public Spaces Bylaw does not pass as is, and is sent back to administration for further revision and additional consultation. Find your councillor on the map below, and use the included email template to let them know why you think we need to rethink the Public Spaces Bylaw. Feel free to copy and paste; you can find a text table at the bottom of this page with all of the Councillor’s names, emails, and Wards. You can also look up your Councillor by address here.

Look up your councillor and ward using our tool.

EMAIL TEMPLATE

Subject Line: Halt the Public Spaces Bylaw! (Bylaw 20700)

Hello [Councillor Name], 

I live in Ward [ward name] and I am writing to you today to urgently ask you to rethink the Public Spaces Bylaw (Bylaw 20700), that goes to City Council on Wednesday, February 14th. 

The new Public Spaces Bylaw, as currently proposed, prioritizes certain people’s use of public space at the expense of others. It will disproportionately impact and criminalize marginalized individuals in our city who have no choice but to be in public spaces. It is critical that this bylaw does not pass in its current form, and that it goes back to administration for further revision and additional consultation. 

The proposed bylaws will likely lead to heavy enforcement against specific groups, such as unhoused people, worsening equity issues. This focus and the very limited engagement have also led to a bylaw that creates numerous barriers for community organizations that promote active transportation, social-inclusion, community-building, and creative use of public spaces. 

I am particularly concerned about the following bylaw items: [ADD ANY ADDITIONAL BYLAW ITEMS YOU’RE CONCERNED ABOUT]

• New $250 minimum fines for: riding a bike on the grass in a park; using sidewalk chalk or paint on a public street or sidewalk; and using amplification to make announcements or play music at an event.
• Increasing fines for riding a bike on the sidewalk from $100 to $250. Fines double for subsequent tickets, and because of how certain people are targeted, many sidewalk riding tickets will be $500 (a 5-fold increase).
• New permit requirements for events involving more than 50 people in any public space.
• Significant broadening of “inappropriate transit behaviour”, to include riding on transit past the same destination more than once, or waiting at a stop (even to meet with a friend) while multiple vehicles pass.

[ADD PERSONAL STORY IF APPLICABLE]

These kinds of very broad regulations of largely inconsequential behaviour, combined with highly selective enforcement, lead to discriminatory enforcement and negative outcomes for society. I am concerned that there would be inequitable enforcement of these proposed bylaw items, and that they would primarily impact those who are most vulnerable and otherwise marginalized in my community.

I call on you, as my elected representative, to not approve the bylaw in its current form, and to ensure that Administration engages with a broader range of affected stakeholders before proceeding. 

Sincerely, 

[NAME]

[POSTAL CODE]

Councillor	Ward	Email
Erin Rutherford	Anirniq	[email protected]
Aaron Paquette	Dene	[email protected]
Jennifer Rice	Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi	[email protected]
Keren Tang	Karhiio	[email protected]
Ashley Salvador	Métis	[email protected]
Andrew Knack	Nakota Isga	[email protected]
Anne Stevenson	O-day’min	[email protected]
Michael Janz	papastew	[email protected]
Tim Cartmell	pihêsiwin ᐱᐦᐁᓯᐏᐣ	[email protected]
Sarah Hamilton	sipiwiyiniwak	[email protected]
Jo-Anne Wright	Sspomitapi	[email protected]
Karen Principe	tastawiyiniwak	[email protected]