City council to vote on backyard fire curfew Monday

A controversial bylaw to put a curfew on backyard fires in Saskatoon goes before city council on Monday.

The proposal that would limit fires between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. was approved by city council in December after a narrow 6-5 vote, which drew a lot of opinions.

Coun. Darren Hill was among those who voted against the proposal.

Hill told the Brent Loucks Show Friday the city should be looking at how to better enforce its existing bylaw rather than implementing new ones.

“My concern is we’re just one-offing this one component without looking at the issue as a whole,” Hill said, noting he’s heard numerous concerns from people about enforcement.

Hill shares those concerns adding he is scared about what could happen if fire crews are dealing with a fire pit complaint when there’s a serious blaze elsewhere.

Hill said the city’s existing bylaw already covers nuisance smoke and just needs to be tweaked.

“All we needed to do was come up a new way of enforcing that component of the bylaw and move that forward,” he said. “This is like taking a sledge hammer to drive in a pin.”

People still have time to weigh in on the issue. Letters requesting time to speak at 1 p.m. on Monday must be submitted to the city clerk’s office by 10 a.m.