A surge in violent incidents involving bear repellent has led Burnaby RCMP to urge the city to pass a bylaw to restrict its sale in the city, particularly to youth.

Calls involving bear spray jumped 36% (from 71 to 111) between 2020 and 2023, and 2024 is on track to surpass last year’s numbers, according to a recent report from the state’s public safety committee. city.

“It’s almost every week we get a call about a bear spray incident,” said Const. Dwight Martin told the committee.

He pointed to a fight last month involving pepper spray that led to the evacuation of the Metrotown mall food court.

Many incidents involve young people, he said, and teenagers often victimize other teenagers.

Chief Superintendent. Burnaby RCMP Chief Graham de la Gorgendière said bear spray is used to commit robberies, home invasions and assaults.

“This is happening to a lot of young people in our community,” he said. “We see people losing their iPhone, their sneakers, their jacket.”

Advice. Richard Lee asked if there was an argument for using bear spray in self-defense, but de la Gorgendière said the same logic could be used for a knife or gun. fire.

“It’s not legal to transport these items,” he said.

The sale and use of bear spray is already controlled by federal and provincial laws, which prohibit its sale to anyone under the age of 19, and people who purchase it are required to sign documents stating how the vaporizer must be used and stored.

But only police can enforce provincial and federal laws, while a bylaw would allow city enforcement officers to also investigate and combat the illegal sale of bear repellent, according to Martin.

The regulations have made a difference in other cities, he said.

Chilliwack passed a bylaw in 2020, he said, and saw calls for bear spray decrease by 40 per cent (from 164 to 98) by 2023 – during the same period Burnaby has experienced an increase of 36 percent.

Similar decreases also occurred in other cities, including Vancouver and Coquitlam, after regulations were put in place, according to Martin.

Under the bylaw he recommended for Burnaby, the sale of bear spray would be prohibited to anyone under 19; the buyer would be required to present two valid government IDs and sign a declaration form; and the seller will be required to sign a waiver with the government identification number, maintain a record of the sales and declaration form, and store the bear repellent as specified in the regulations.

Merchants would be prohibited from displaying it, because young people can obtain bear repellent by stealing it, according to Martin.

Other methods include purchasing online with gift cards, purchasing from Facebook Marketplace, or getting from older students who have graduated from their school.

One thing is for sure, Martin said, even in-person sales of bear spray in Burnaby are out of proportion to the number of bear attacks in the city.

He noted that Canadian Tire has sold about 500 cans of bear spray since 2020, but there has only been one incident where a bear injured a person during that time — and that person was feeding the bear, according to Martin.

“Essentially, the ends don’t justify the means in terms of the number of bear calls we receive versus the number of bear spraying incidents recorded,” he said.

Martin said the bylaw wouldn’t solve the entire problem, especially since online sales are largely beyond the RCMP’s control, but it would be one way to help make the streets safer.

De la Gorgendière said there are legitimate uses for bear spray for hikers and hunters.

“Not everyone commits a crime with it,” he said, “but it’s certainly become a phenomenon in the city here, and there’s no need for a spray anti-bear on the streets of Burnaby It’s not a thing for us.”

The public safety committee unanimously approved a motion directing staff to explore the creation of a possible bylaw to regulate the sale of bear repellent in the city.

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