“This bylaw will only affect those who choose to ignore the education and publicity.” A new bullying and harassment bylaw that will make so-called “‘consensual fights’ in the bar, along the bear trails and on the front lawn” punishable by a hefty fine in Slave Lake is not about handing out big tickets. It’s about making participants accountable for their actions. So says Slave Lake’s RCMP spokesman Cpl. Peter Quilty who told Slave Lake Town councillors it’ll also address the problem of bullying that can have disastrous, sometimes deadly, ramifications. Since 2001 when a teen walked into Roland Michener Secondary school with a gun, bullying has become a very real problem in the community.
“It was only a pellet gun, but the whole incident was the result of bullying – and our first real taste of what we saw happening in the United States,” he added. The corporal was referring to incidents that saw innocent teens being gunned down by other teens that were the object of relentless taunting and bullying.
Shortly after the gun incident at the local high school, the RCMP began receiving more and more reports of bullying, he said.
And before long school teachers and administrators banded together with police, agency representatives, parents and the community as a whole to map out a strategy to take aim at the problem.
They brought world-renowned author Barbara Coloroso to town to speak to students and their parents about bullying and its effects. Police went to schools to talk about the same subject, he said. “but not everybody was listening.”
The bylaw, he added, will command attention.
“The idea is not a ticket campaign,” Quilty said at a public hearing Tuesday. In fact, police will begin by educating the public about the bylaw and its meaning, before they start handing out the tickets.
“It’s all about accountability, and to me it’s long overdue,” Quilty told councillors. RCMP officers are often called to break up fist fights or brawls outside drinking establishments – or even on front lawns. But when they arrive, the ‘participants’ claim it’s a consensual fight so officers cannot lay criminal charges. The Town’s new bylaw, however, will give officers another tool in their attention-grabbing arsenal, he added.
“And it’ll only affect those who choose not to listen” to the awareness campaign. Those caught fighting in a public place – or harassing a minor — can expect a $250 ticket, according to the penalty section of the new bylaw. It also says throwing ‘projectiles or missiles’ – like stones or balls of snow or ice –at another person will cost offenders $50 per throw.
Quilty was the only person commenting on the new bylaw at the public hearing Tuesday evening. Councillors later gave unanimous support to second and third reading of the bylaw. Councillors Lisa Brown, George Snider and Valerie Tradewell were absent. In a later interview, Quilty said police will start sharing the word in September.

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