SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Although it's looked down upon, it's not illegal to defecate, urinate, spit, loiter or aggressively panhandle in the city's public places.

So the Yellowknife Area Policing Advisory Committee is perusing bylaws written by communities across the country to determine whether Yellowknife could benefit from a similar bylaw.

"The policing committee had been asked to look at what's out there from other communities and just take a look to see if Yellowknife would need something like this," said Yellowknife RCMP detachment commander Insp. David Elliot, who sits on the committee.

After viewing bylaws from about 10 communities, including Vancouver, B.C., Calgary, Alta., Regina Beach, Sask. and Brandon, Man., if members of the committee think Yellowknife needs a similar bylaw, they'll bring a recommendation forward to council, said Elliott.

"What would actually be in the bylaw, that would be up to the city to determine," he said, pointing out in some communities the bylaw goes so far as to make it illegal to peel bark off trees in public places.

The committee hasn't yet discussed what issues should be addressed if the bylaw is adopted, but Elliott said defecating and urinating in public places is included in all of the bylaws he's looked at.

Although the city doesn't have legislation against relieving yourself in public, that doesn't mean people can pull down their pants, exposing their bodies to the world.

Under section 174 (1) of the Criminal Code of Canada, anyone who, without lawful excuse, is nude in a public place or is nude and exposed to public view while on private property, whether or not the property is his own, is guilty of a summary conviction offence.

In 2008, homeless people were using a bucket as a bathroom in the alley between 49 and 50 Street.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem said the city has been looking at a public land use bylaw for the last decade because there is no legislation against such things in the North. In the past, the city even approached the territorial government about it, said Van Tighem.

"They looked at it for a couple of years and said, 'We're really not that motivated, but you can do it.'"

He said instead of implementing a new bylaw, the city has tried to make positive changes, such as the creation of the Dene Ko Day Shelter, the SideDoor Youth Centre, programs in schools

and athletic programs for youth.

"What we've tried to do is create other options and other healthy choices, but if the problem persists, then what else can you do?" asked the mayor.

A persistent problem in the city is habitual loitering, especially downtown and in malls, he said.

"You get people hanging out in malls that aren't really there to participate in the mall, they're just there to be there. In a lot of communities, that's discouraged actively."

Qui Pham-Gillander, owner of Reddi Mart on 50th Street, said although she thinks a new bylaw is a good idea, she doesn't think it will help.

She said she sees the same 20 people loitering in front of her store everyday.

"They just hang around," she said, pointing out that many of them try to steal while her cashiers are busy.

Loitering is addressed in section 175 (1) of the Criminal Code of Canada, where it states, everyone who impedes or molests other persons, loiters in a public place and in any way obstructs persons who are in that place, is guilty of a summary conviction offence.

Elliott said the difference between a bylaw and what is stated in the criminal code is that the city is able to break down what is considered an offence.

"The use of the public space bylaw, that's where you get into the defecating and the urinating, that's not specifically covered in any of the laws," he said.

"So it's just (breaking down) what's considered acceptable within the community."

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