Is it time for Yellowknife to update its noise bylaw? (2024)

Months after residents complained of a high-pitched noise emanating from a downtown Yellowknife parkade, council is discussing whether to update the city’s noise bylaw.

Councillor Ben Hendriksen raised the issue at a Monday afternoon meeting, proposing amendments that would regulate the use of “mosquito devices,” referring to devices that emit high-pitched sounds aimed at deterring people from loitering.

Such a noise has been coming from the entrance to Centre Square Mall’s 51 Avenue parkade since late 2023. Hendriksen said a mosquito device is the source of the noise, which prompted one person to lodge a formal complaint with the city.

“I don’t believe that the benefits of the one property owner and people who park underground should outweigh the cost to everyone else who wants to be present in our downtown core,” Hendriksen said.

“To me, this is just another example of a negative externality that I believe we should be regulating.”

Hendriksen said he understands property owners wanting to prevent people from loitering, littering and possibly causing damage, and it’s not their responsibility to provide a sheltered space for people to spend time. He questioned, however, how effective the device has been at addressing those concerns, and said it has wider negative impacts on the city’s downtown.

“If we take no action on the use of these types of devices we are, in my opinion, saying that we really don’t care about standards in our downtown,” he said.

Hendriksen, who currently chairs Yellowknife’s Community Advisory Board on Homelessness, said the city, NWT government and RCMP need to take “a more meaningful response” to address “real and perceived concerns for public safety” as well as care for people experiencing homelessness and addictions.

“The majority of people who spend time on our streets are not causing issues, they’re getting through their day the best they can,” he said.

“There’s a very small minority of people at any given time that do create challenges and we need to have discussions about what we do. But to me, we can’t have an answer that affects our whole downtown without any sort of response to that.”

‘Antiquated’ bylaw

Hendriksen’s recommendations were ultimately shot down by other councillors.

City manager John Collin advised against making an amendment to the noise bylaw, which he said is “antiquated in a number of different areas.”

“If we’re going to address or correct the deficiencies then I would recommend that we correct them all at the same time, which will require more time,” he said of the 1991 bylaw.

Collin said changing the bylaw would not be a “be-all, end-all” to address concerns in the city’s downtown.

Whether councillors update the bylaw this year seems unlikely. Collin said the city’s work plan for 2024 already has “too much on it,” and the city is “at risk of failing in a number of different areas.”

‘A more robust conversation’

Councillors Garett Cochrane and Rob Warburton said they wanted a “more robust conversation” about public safety.

Cochrane said he was concerned about “a symbolic gesture,” adding the city’s business community has “indicated over and over again that they want active deterrence and, the moment they’ve implemented that, we decide to step in to say the deterrence provided is no longer acceptable.”

Echoing comments he previously made to Cabin Radio, Warburton said Yellowknife has no bylaw and the territory no legislation to address this kind of concern. Examples would be a trespass act, security services act or loitering bylaw.

“We currently give no tools to anyone downtown, property owners in particular, on how to address issues downtown. Literally none,” he said.

Hay Riverpassed a public behaviour bylawin October, modelled after similar legislation in Inuvik, to address issues like loitering, spitting, littering and fighting.

Some critics raised concerns that the Hay River bylaw could further marginalize people affected by intergenerational trauma from colonization, or criminalize homelessness and addiction.

Cart before horse

Councillor Steve Payne and Mayor Rebecca Alty were also in favour of not addressing the noise concern for the time being.

Alty said with wildfire season fast approaching, the city’s public safety department should be focused on emergency preparedness. She said the city’s municipal enforcement division, meanwhile, should focus on reviewing the livery licence bylaw – which regulates taxis in Yellowknife – and conducting foot patrols downtown.

“I don’t think the device is very effective and I bet it’ll be turned off before we even get to updating the [noise] bylaw,” she said of the device in the parkade.

“I’m sure other councillors who have been here in the 90s will remember when the mall played loud classical music at the entrance – and then it just got turned off.”

Alty added the city should continue to push for long-term solutions from the federal and territorial governments and the RCMP.

Payne said he was in favour of more broadly updating the noise bylaw at a later date, adding councillors had not been “inundated with a lot of noise complaints.”

“We’re putting the cart before the horse and it’s not something that we should be putting a whole lot of time into,” he said.

“They’re not breaking any rules, not breaking any laws. A few people are upset but whatever we do in the city, people are going to be upset.”

The device in the parkade initially emitted noise around the clock. That violated the existing noise bylaw, which prohibits any noise that disturbs the “quiet, peace, rest, enjoyment, comfort or convenience of any person” between the hours of 11pm and 7am.

Following discussions between the city and the property manager, Alty said on Monday, the device now only emits noise outside those hours.

It’s unclear if the property managers faced any fine for violating the bylaw.

More than a nuisance

Councillors Cat McGurk and Tom McLennan think the noise does warrant some action.

McGurk said the high-pitched noise is not only a nuisance, it’s a serious concern for people with sensory issues.

“There are a lot of residents in the community who can’t handle that sound,” she said.

“It would be a shame to know that there’s an entire group of people in our community that will probably have to avoid downtown, that specific area of downtown, over the course of the summer.”

McLennan said the device has not dissuaded people from congregating in the area, does nothing to address underlying issues of homelessness and addictions, and has a negative impact on the downtown.

Broadening the conversation, McLennan said he’d like to see “concrete and timely actions” come from a review of the Yellowknife Women’s Society’s Street Outreach program, as well as a recent report on the policing of unhoused Indigenous women in the city.

“If we do not prioritize more resources to addressing addictions and homelessness, the symptoms of these issues will only increase. Reviews and strategies are only as good as the outcomes they create,” he said.

Noise emitters elsewhere

The use of noise emitters has been debated in other cities across North America and Europe.

Following complaints in 2020, the City of Winnipeg stopped using sound-emitting devices intended to discourage people from setting up camps under bridges and vehicle overpasses,the CBC reported.

The use of noise deterrents has also been reported inOshawaandNorth Bayin Ontario, and inVancouver.

In Spokane, Washington, city councillors banned businesses from using the devices in 2020.

Campaigns against the devices in the United Kingdom and Australia say they infringe on human rights.

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