Lethbridge City Hall. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

City looking into potentially fining business owners for fights breaking out

Sep 3, 2019 | 5:47 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Lethbridge City Council has instructed the City Manager Bramwell Strain to look into how penalties could be restructured for street fighting.

Currently, those who are caught fighting in public can be fined $100. Depending on the circumstances, there may also be criminal charges from police.

Mayor Chris Spearman says he brought a pair of motions forward at Tuesday’s council meeting due to recent incidents of fights occurring outside of local bars. In one incident in particular he mentioned, a 25-year-old man was allegedly assaulted by a group of several unknown men outside of Boss Hogs. More details here.

“Do we have enough disincentives in place, you know, are the fines large enough to discourage fighting? How do people stay safe, how does the public stay safe in areas of the town? We want to make sure our bylaws are up to date, the fines are up to date, and that they are appropriate.”

Specifically, the motions read as follows:

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“THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT City Council direct the City Manager to include a review of the penalty structure for fighting and explore the ability to charge and fine owners of the property where a fight occurs as well as research other municipalities on their practices; and”

“THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT Administration engage with stakeholders, including the public, regarding this bylaw.”

Spearman recently had a meeting with Brooks Mayor Barry Morishita where they discussed, among other things, what that community was doing in response to fights.

“I think one of the benefits we heard was that the police are able to hand out a fine right on the spot and that would be something we would look at,” says Spearman.

Some members of council, however, did not feel it would be fair to impose fines on business owners simply because fights broke out on their property.

Councillor Jeffrey Coffman said that if he got a speeding ticket, the company that made the car would not be penalized, nor would the dealership that sold it to him. In the end, he did vote in favour of the motions because he believes it is always a good thing to have more information to help drive decision-making.

Councillor Blaine Hyggen did not feel to would be fair or equitable to business owners. Hyggen was the lone councillor to vote against this investigation.

Strain is expected to present his findings at the Lethbridge City Council meeting on November 12th, 2019.