Adam Johnson
Northern News Services
Published Friday, August 31, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Councillors chewed up and spat out a proposal for a spitting bylaw this week, and will look instead for other ways to clean up downtown Yellowknife.

"I sure don't want to see a spitting bylaw," said Coun. Lydia Bardak during a Monday committee meeting.

She said she was worried such a bylaw would target the city's homeless and be hard to enforce, while having limited results.

"(Spitting) is not a criminal act," she said.

The bylaw was proposed by Coun. Paul Falvo, who raised the matter in a recent newsletter.

"It's an issue that's taken on a life of its own in the last few weeks," he said, citing the letters and e-mails he has received from concerned citizens.

He said he "wasn't married" to the idea of a no-spitting bylaw, but was interested in discussing ways to improve the appearance of downtown Yellowknife.

Regarding problems enforcing the bylaw, he compared spitting to speeding.

"We could say that speeding is unenforceable, because people still speed."

Falvo's fellow councillors weren't on board.

"I think this is not a terribly high priority," said Coun. Mark Heyck. He pointed to the conference room walls, which are often filled with diagrams and artifacts of current business.

He said council should examine its goals and objectives in the new year, to "flesh out how (they) want to move forward."

"This issue is one that's easy to make light of," said Coun. Kevin Kennedy. "I'm really glad this has come up."

While he didn't support a potential spitting ban, Kennedy suggested the city create a free public washroom downtown to ease concerns about public urination and defecation. He also recommended a power-washing regimen for sidewalks, which was also suggested by Coun. Heyck and Coun. Dave McCann.

McCann said targeting people who litter out of their moving cars, rather than people on the street, made more sense.

"They're the ones that could pay the $100 fine," he said.

While councillors debated ways to make the city look better, Mayor Gord Van Tighem said downtown was looking better.

"One thing I have noticed is our downtown is remarkably cleaner," he said of taking visiting dignitaries and businesspeople around town.

Greg Kehoe, public works director with the city, agreed.

"We have had observations that the downtown is cleaner," he said. "We all lived here 10 years ago, when it wasn't."