‘We want our neighbourhoods safe’: Coquitlam mayor clarifies, defends garbage fine policy

COQUITLAM (NEWS 1130) – We’ve been telling you about a Coquitlam man who says he received a $1,000 fine for putting his garbage out too early.

Now the mayor of that city is clarifying the policy and defending its value.

One of our listeners, Dave Deveau, told us he received two $500 fine stickers on his garbage bins — but Mayor Richard Stewart says a penalty, in this case, would peak at $250 total for a first time offender.

“We do need to speak with him, and that’s what happens when these stickers get put on,” says Stewart. “It successfully initiates a conversation with someone who may not have known, or who may have some extenuating circumstances we want to know about.

“Ultimately we don’t want to issue any fines. We just want compliance with the rules that are meant to protect bears.”

Stewart explains the policy isn’t a cash grab but is simply intended to ensure people only put out their trash for limited periods of time to protect wildlife — noting four bears have been put down this year.

“That is deeply troubling,” says Stewart. “Not just for the wildlife that is senselessly attracted into our neighbourhoods and then killed, but it’s deeply disturbing for those of us parents. We want our neighbourhoods safe from those interactions.”

Stewart also notes there are already different rules in place for some areas in the city.

“Other neighbourhoods that are lower in bear activity, we treat them a little bit more loosely. We allow the solid waste to be put out at the curb until 11 am for pickup from 11 am until mid-afternoon because there is less bear activity. We accept that. So we already treat his neighbourhood a little bit differently and a little bit more flexibly.”

While Deveau suggested to us his neighbourhood isn’t near a wooded area, Stewart says bears have been spotted in the surrounding area.

“Within a 20-minute walk from his home, there were dozens of bear reports,” says Stewart, who says he looked into the statistics for that part of the city. “It’s not the hottest spot in Coquitlam in terms of bear activity, but it’s certainly a concern in every corner of Coquitlam, and in most of the northeastern sector, to make sure that we don’t end up with bears becoming habituated to eating garbage.

“There are bears in his neighbourhood. We want them to stay in the forests and stay in the ravines, and not get pulled out on garbage day because people put out their garbage overnight.”

Stewart says Deveau is welcome to speak with him directly — he says a fine has not formally been decided at this point.