Resolutions

WHEREAS, with authority granted by The Municipalities Act, municipalities in Saskatchewan have enacted bylaws concerning nuisance properties, zoning, and other bylaws within their communities. These bylaws have been put in place to maintain community standards and to make our communities safe and comfortable places to live; and

WHEREAS, these bylaws are difficult to enforce when payment of fines associated are voluntary and ratepayers who commit bylaw infractions need more motivation to take corrective action; and

WHEREAS small urban municipalities do not have the same monetary and administrative resources as larger urban municipalities to effectively collect fines issued for bylaw infractions, which includes spending general municipal funds for legal fees and making applications to the court, as outlined in Section 370 of The Municipalities Act; and the dollar amount of certain fines for bylaw infractions would be used up to pay for legal fees, defeating the purpose of fine issuance; and

WHEREAS in some cases attempts to enforce bylaws are met with legal actions. Enforcement via the courts is expensive. Councils, seeing the potential problems and expenses, become reluctant to enforce bylaws or avoid using bylaws all together to avoid the possibility of financial loss. Legal costs can wreak havoc on the limited budget of a small community. With little effort or expense, a resident can place his or her community in jeopardy; and

WHEREAS municipalities need a wider range of power and autonomy to enforce bylaws within their communities;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT SUMA advocate the Provincial Government to provide greater local autonomy for municipalities when enforcing bylaws and in performing governance and management duties/functions.

• The Cities Act, The Municipalities Act and The Northern Municipalities Act, 2010 (municipal Acts) provide municipalities with legislative authority to pass a wide range of bylaws within their areas of jurisdiction that affect property owners and residents and are in the best interests of the municipality, its residents, and its ratepayers.
   
• Subsection 8(2) in all three municipal Acts give municipalities the power and autonomy to make bylaws regarding the enforcement of bylaws, that may include any or all of the following measures:
• Creating offences that impose a fine or providing for imprisonment or both;
• Conducting inspections to determine if bylaws are being complied with properly;
• Seizing, impounding, selling, or destroying any type of real or personal property;
• Sending notices of the contravention of bylaws; and/or
• Indicating the municipality can order the remedying of a bylaw contravention and if not remedied, the municipality may remedy, register an interest on the property’s title (that stays with the property until discharged) and add the costs of remedying to the property’s taxes and enforce like other property taxes through civil action or taking title if left unpaid.
   
• Municipalities may also appoint bylaw enforcement officers to assist with enforcing contraventions and prosecutions, either on their own or together with other municipalities.
   
• The principles of administrative justice must be upheld such as giving proper notice and the opportunity and timeframe for persons to remedy contraventions, or bylaws that are challenged in court may not be upheld. As well, fines and consequences for infractions and contraventions cannot bypass the judicial process or a person’s ability to appeal to the courts.
   
• Sound legal advice should help a municipality effectively enforce its bylaws, and consistent enforcement will set precedence for how infractions are dealt with.
   
• It is unclear what specific additional authority or autonomy is being asked for in this resolution or what might be possible given the principles of administrative justice. The Ministry of

Government Relations is open to recommendations for specific amendments that would improve municipalities’ ability to enforce bylaws. Proposals would be considered the next time the municipal Acts are opened, currently anticipated to be in 2025, with consultations occurring throughout 2024.