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Bear spray continues to pose a conundrum for Saskatchewan law enforcement officials — and a concern for people frequenting Saskatoon’s shopping malls.
Incidents involving bear spray continue in Saskatchewan despite new provincial rules to restrict its transportation.
Bear spray continues to pose a conundrum for Saskatchewan law enforcement officials — and a concern for people frequenting Saskatoon’s shopping malls.
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In a span of less than 12 hours last week, Saskatoon police responded to four incidents involving bear spray, including one in which a group of youths deployed it inside Confederation Mall.
Earlier last week, on a lighter day for bear-spray-related crime, the irritant meant to stave off animal attacks was sprayed in the food court at Midtown Plaza, the second such incident at the location in less than two months.
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Police say two groups of youths used bear spray after a confrontation in the food court. Two security guards were also sprayed when they tried to detain the suspects.
On Christmas Eve in Regina, a teen was charged with assault with a weapon after a spraying incident on a Regina bus.
Bear spray remains a weapon of choice in Saskatchewan, despite new rules to regulate its transportation and fines of up to $100,000 that were introduced nearly a year ago.
The revamped laws attempted to straddle the line between urban and rural, restricting the transportation of bear spray in “public urban spaces” while recognizing the legitimate need for it in more remote settings.
The regulations were introduced in March by two cabinet ministers who lost their seats in the October election, Bronwyn Eyre and Paul Merriman. Essentially, the rules restrict the transportation of “wildlife control devices” that contain capsaicin, an active component in hot chili peppers.
So bear spray is essentially pepper spray, but strong enough to subdue a big, angry beast. Pepper spray is classified as an illegal weapon in Canada, which means it’s illegal to possess or transport it without a licence, under any circumstances. Possession of a prohibited weapon can result in a jail term of 10 years.
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But people can buy bear spray at Canadian Tire, even though it resembles, in all practical aspects, a prohibited weapon.
The teen accused in the Christmas Eve incident on the Regina bus was charged with assault with a weapon, which can result in a jail sentence of 10 years. So the potential for serious penalties existed before Saskatchewan introduced the possibility of $100,000 fines.
Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Justice revealed that 48 charges have been laid under the new regulations up to the end of November, including 26 in Regina and 12 in Saskatoon. For context, Saskatoon police recorded 18 incidents involving the use of bear spray as a weapon in less than a month this fall.
But the ministry declined to share sentencing information, perhaps because none of the 48 cases has made it to court. So it remains unclear whether any significant fines have been handed out under the new laws.
We do know, however, that bear spray incidents continue regularly. The threat of huge fines appears to be failing as a deterrent.
That can be partly attributed to the likelihood that the youth cited in many of these bear spray incidents fail to weigh the consequences of their actions. And they’re unlikely to face the most severe punishments available.
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One solution to this puzzle was suggested by Saskatoon mayoral candidate Cary Tarasoff last month. Tarasoff, who finished a distant fourth in his second run at city hall’s top job in November, proposed restricting the sale of bear spray in Saskatoon to adults.
His presentation referred to other cities that have pursued this route, notably Edmonton, which passed a bylaw last summer to ban the sale of bear spray to people under 18 and to introduce $1,000 fines for businesses that fail to record transactions involving the product.
The justice ministry confirmed Saskatchewan municipalities have the power to restrict sales of potential weapons like bear spray. The ministry declined to answer whether the province might consider such restrictions, saying the rules it introduced provide “an effective tool” to curb bear spray use.
Restricting sales hardly qualifies as a perfect solution since anyone can order bear spray online, but it represents a sensible start.
Phil Tank is the digital opinion editor at the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.
@thinktanksk.bsky.social
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