An Ottawa boy has been issued a $65 ticket after it was discovered that he had been building sandcastles without any form of permit or licence. The child and his family took a day trip to Constance Bay on Saturday, where he began creating structures out of sand and water almost immediately. After a few hours, a passing woman informed the boy that what he was doing was illegal, as the sand didn’t belong to him. Ottawa by-law arrived on the scene shortly afterwards.
“He makes castles all the time at home,” says Rachel Lanette, the boy’s mother. “I didn’t think it would be a big deal, but the by-law officers told us that we would have to take down the sandcastles and leave.”
The officers explained to the boy’s parents that the part of the beach they were sitting on was city property, and that any development on city land must be prefaced with the proper permits. After a heated argument, the family left the beach, and is now considering taking legal action. The incident comes days after the National Capital Commission forced a pair of young girls to close their lemonade stand, and marks a concerning trend in law “enforcement”.
The boy who started it all has been notably silent in the whole affair, and has declined all interview requests. While not wishing to discuss the legality of these issues, he did release a statement at a press conference last night, stating “they [by-law] are poop.”
On February 28, 2016, Ottawa Police announced that they would no longer be responding to noise complaints between the hours of 2 and 6 a.m. which left a void in noise complaint coverage as bylaw officers end their shifts at 2 a.m. Last week several bylaw officers were busted running an after-hours rave ring.
