Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Although it won't be until spring before the snow melts to reveal a winter's worth of frozen litter, there is an incentive to refrain from littering that goes beyond being environmentally conscious - a $200 ticket. Or, if you're caught three times, a $500 ticket.

The odds of getting a ticket are slim under the solid waste bylaw, since the City of Yellowknife only issues an average of about a dozen such tickets per year, according to Dennis Marchiori, director of public safety. The fine for an unsecured load on a vehicle - the most common littering offence - is $150 for a first offence, $250 for a second and $350 for a third. Gate attendants at the dump can issue tickets if they notice an unsecured load passing through.

For littering on private or public property, you have to be caught in the act by a bylaw officer, but the infraction can be as small as spitting out your gum or flicking a cigarette butt. The fine is $200 for a first offence, $350 for the second offence and $500 for a third.

People can also be fined for littering under the highway traffic bylaw - such as throwing a coffee cup out of a moving vehicle - but the fine is much smaller at $75.

The difference in fine amounts comes down to the highway traffic bylaw mirroring fines under the GNWT's Highway Traffic Act, said Marchiori. The city, however, has control over fines levied under the solid waste bylaw.

"The solid waste bylaw is the stricter of the two. That's where we would have the majority of the offences," said Marchiori.

He said for a ticket to be issued for general littering, a bylaw officer has to witness someone littering.

"We catch you littering, we come up and say, 'You just littered. Could you pick that up and throw it away?'" said Marchiori.

The officer can then issue the litterer a fine amount or have them appear in front of a justice of the peace.

Marchiori said the city is lucky to have quite a few different organizations which organize cleanups every spring.

"Every year, we have various community groups that do spring cleanups," he said. "I think for them, it's a little bit difficult because you have to deal with the same stuff every year and every spring we deal with it. The snow melts and we're looking at the accumulation of litter from the winter."

Paul Falvo has headed spring cleanups since 2008. This past spring he organized cleanups in May, June and July. These take place alongside city-organized cleanups as well as other initiatives organized by companies such as BHP Billiton.

"Every time we do it, I think nobody's going to show and every time I'm very pleasantly surprised we have at least a dozen people," said Falvo.

Marchiori said the municipal enforcement division attempts to lay the groundwork to deter future litterers by explaining the importance of keeping the city clean.

"Really it starts with grassroots education," he said.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.