Regina city council votes down bike helmet bylaw

Regina residents won’t need to wear a helmet when riding a bike, but they should expect to learn more about the benefits of doing so.

Regina city council decided to focus on education aspects surrounding helmets and biking in the city rather than bringing in a mandatory helmet bylaw Wednesday.

After a lengthy debate during a virtual meeting, councillors elected to separate the helmet bylaw from the motion and voted on it separately. Coun. Bob Hawkins noted Saskatchewan and Quebec are the only provinces without a helmet bylaw.

The helmet bylaw would have required anyone on a bike to wear a helmet and failure to do so would result in a $29 fine.

The helmet bylaw was defeated by a count of 8-3. Councillors Barbara Young, Andrew Stevens, Lori Bresciani, John Findura, Joel Murray, Mike O’Donnell, Jason Mancinelli and Jerry Flegel voted down the bylaw. Hawkins, Coun. Sharron Bryce and Mayor Michael Fougere voted in favour.

The second portion voted on had to deal with education surrounding helmets and their benefits.

This included a motion for a report to be brought back on requiring motorists to maintain a distance of 1.5 metres when passing a cyclist with a speed higher than 50 kilometres per hour, and one metre when passing a cyclist with a speed of 50 kilometres per hour or less.

“How do you actually enforce that? If you’re asking for the police to do that, police have no mechanism to gauge the distance,” Fougere said.

Fougere said it’s up to cyclists and drivers to work together to keep each other safe.

“It’s education for both sides to respect the road, respect the vehicle and the bike on the road and the education will highlight that and the need for public safety,” Fougere said. “The component took precedence over having a (bike helmet bylaw).”

Flegel, Mancinelli, O’Donnell, Bryce, Murray, Bresciani and Stevens voted in favour of the education aspects. Fougere, Hawkins and Young voted against the motion. Findura did not vote due to technical difficulties.

Fougere said there is already a plan in place to add additional bike lanes in Regina.

Angèle Poirier with Bike Regina argued against the helmet bylaw by saying it would just decrease ridership in the city. Her example was that a family of four with only two helmets may choose to not go on a ride instead.

Poirier said a helmet bylaw just shifts the blame unfairly to the cyclist when there is a head injury.

Ellen McLaughlin, a member of the Canadian Association of Road Safety Professionals, said having a mandatory helmet bylaw would decrease the number of riders, which would cause the roadways to become even more dangerous for cyclists.

Humane Society gets approved for animal community centre

City council approved the rezoning of an area on the 4900 block of Parliament Avenue to be used by the Regina Humane Society.

The humane society’s Lisa Koch said the animal community centre would be the first of its kind in Canada.

“The humane society is in a building that’s falling apart. They can’t do the programming they want and treat the animals the way they can be treated,” Fougere said of the building on Armour Road.

Koch said along with providing more space for animals, the new centre would run education programs and other community events.

Koch said animals would not be outside for long periods of time and the building would be designed for acoustic control for both inside and outside the building. She noted there were concerns around noise from the Regina International Airport having a negative effect on the animals.

The building will cost about $20 million, of which the humane society has already obtained a portion. It also will continue to raise funds.

The plan for the humane society would be to move into the community centre in 2 1/2 to three years.

Council voted to adjourn the meeting with numerous items still on the agenda, including discussions around the CNIB/Brandt Building set to go up in Wascana Park.

Council will reconvene on Thursday at 10 a.m.