Wanted: One Camera To Record Illegal Dumping

So, what is it with my back lane, and my dumpster in particular? Why do people drive their trucks down my lane? And why do they dump their garbage in my dumpster? Yesterday afternoon around 5:50pm I looked out my back window. I saw a white half ton truck stopped in behind my property. Of course I was curious. Who stopped behind the house? And what are they doing? I kept watching to see what was going on. Someone got out of the truck and jumped into the back of it. Then the truck drove ahead a few feet, and stopped at the dumpster in behind my yard. And the guy in the back of the truck dumped something from the truck into the dumpster. Then the truck moved on. I got a quick picture of the truck, told my husband there was someone in the lane dumping garbage, then got my shoes on and headed out to the lane.

Of course, by the time we got to the back lane, the truck was down the lane. It was stopping at each dumpster or so, and slowly emptying the contents of the truck into the dumpsters down my lane. Then it went down the next lane, and the next. It was too far away to get a good picture, and I was not able to catch up to it before it turned. I saw the truck turned left, so I cut over to the next street over. I wanted to try and catch the truck coming back down the street. But it came back as far as Salter, then turned up Salter Street. I wasn't able to get any real information on the truck or the dumpers.
I don't sit at my back window all day waiting for these people, so I can witness the actions and possibly catch these dumpers red handed. I just happen to be watering my plants in the window boxes and noticed someone dumping garbage. I am sure there are many more people driving down my back lane, and the other lanes in the North End, dumping much more garbage than I am witness to myself on a daily basis. And it seems these people are getting smarter. They have developed a fast moving system of dumping, that is difficult to document in a way that will allow me to submit the complaint to the By-Law department. As you know, I need a description of the dumpers and the license plate and vehicle description.
The thought has occurred to me that I should set up camera surveillance in order to catch these pesky garbage criminals. Or maybe the City should set it up. Oh who am I kidding, if the City cared they would have done that long ago. But I am thinking a camera is in order to get the needed evidence to stop these illegal dumpers from using my back lane as their land fill. Hmmm, I wonder what type of camera I should use. And where would I put it. Hmmm.

I Am Mad As Hell, And What Should I Do About It?

If you have been following this blog, you are aware that I am not pleased with the situation the North End is in. I am not happy with the issues going on in the North End and on my street.
When I first started the blog I was not sure what would come of it, if anything. Then I got a call from the Mayor. I started to think maybe someone is listening to the issues of the North End. Maybe I am making a difference. But it turns out the Mayor was filled with empty promises. Remember that when you vote. I will.
As the weeks went on, I did manage to get the mattresses and couches picked up from my back lane and the neighbouring back lanes. I did manage to get a dumpster delivered and placed where there was a gap in my back lane.
I have sent letters to different members of government requesting changes to existing Acts and By-Laws. I have uncovered holes in procedures, which may actually get fixed because of my actions.
And I have discovered there are Residents Organizations throughout the neighbourhoods of this fine City. In my area we have the St Johns Residents Association. They happen to have their Annual General Meeting this Saturday. Well, I am a part of this neighbourhood, and I am going to attend the meeting.
The meeting is at Ralph Brown Community Centre on Saturday, October 2 at 11:00am.
I will be there, because I am a part of the St. Johns community and I am not turning a blind eye to the actions going on in my neighbourhood anymore.
If you care about your community, go to your neighbourhood residents association meeting. If you don't know who they are or where they meet, ask your local member of government. Be a part of the solution.
I am mad as hell, and I am going to be a part of the solution.

The Mayor Has Not Answered My E-Mail

I sent an email to the mayor on Sept 10-10. I wanted to know what he was doing regarding his promise to take care of the issue I had with the City By-Law Office. It seems they are not able to find the person who illegally dumped items in my dumpster. Although I provided a photo including the person, their vehicle, and the license plate number, the City By-Law Office cannot research the license plate number. I was told they do not have access to the MPI database to find out who the person is.
Well, the Mayor, when he called me, said he would look into this personally. He said it is a shame that a citizen would take the time to report a crime and nothing is getting done about it. I guess the Mayor is just another person who is not doing anything about the illegal dumping of garbage in the dumpster in my back lane. I know it is just garbage. But what it really is, is the City By-Law office having By-Laws that cannot be enforced. And that, citizens of Winnipeg, should not be ignored.

Here is the letter I sent the Mayor, that is being ignored:

I would like to know the status of my issue sent to the City By-Law office regarding illegal dumping of garbage in the dumpster in my back lane. The mayor called me regarding this issue and said he would take care of it personally. I would like an update on what is being done with the issue, ticket number 405412 reported Aug 20. I was advised on Aug 26 that City By-Laws had no access to vehicle license information to process the ticket. On Aug 27 the mayor said he would take care of this issue for me.

Please advise.

I still want an answer on what is being done with the issue I reported. I am prepared to go to court and testify against the person who thought he had every right to dump his garbage in my dumpster. I do not consider my back lane a garbage dump that the rest of the city can use to deposit items they no longer want. As a citizen of this city, I demand something be done about this. And as a citizen of this city, I would think a promise the Mayor made to me would be kept.

311 Was Correct In Directing My Complaint to Police, But ...

I sent an email to 311 to request a noise complaint be forwarded to the department that takes care of the Neighbourhood Liveability By-Law. It was a noise complaint regarding people making noise in the middle of the night. It was a noise complaint regarding repeat offenses of people yelling, screaming, swearing, and smashing property in the middle of the night, over several nights.
In the email, I asked that the issue be forwarded to the department that takes care of the Neighbourhood Liveability By-Law. The issue was forwarded to the police.
I was under the belief that the By-Laws were enforced by the By-Law department. When I spoke with a member of the Police Community Support Unit, I asked who enforces the Neighbourhood Liveability By-Laws and was told it was the By-Law department. But what I failed to ask is if the entire Neighbourhood Liveability By-Law was enforced by the By-Law department. It seems that Section 67 is not enforced by the By-Law Department. In fact, Section 67 (which deals with human and animal noises) is taken care of by two different department, depending if it is human noise or animal noise. The human noise is taken care of by the Police, and the animal noise is taken care of by Animal Services. How confusing is that!
So, when I asked the member of the Police Community Support Unit who takes care of the issues I was referring to, I should have asked "Who takes care of Section 67 as it applies to human noise, of the Neighbourhood Liveability By-Law?". That was my mistake, and I wish to apologize for the error.
Now, I just have one more question. Does anyone fine the people who are in violation of Section 67 as it applies to human noises, of the Neighbourhood Liveability By-Law? Or do the Winnipeg Police just go to the location of the violation and ask them to be quite?
I have to be honest with you. When I first read Section 67 of the Neighbourhood Liveability By-Law I got excited. I thought finally, there was something that protected neighbourhoods from excessive noise. I thought this little By-Law could prove to be useful in taking care of Party Houses. What I know so far is that I have to call the police each time the noise happens, and call when the noise is happening. And I have to keep doing this over and over again. I am not sure to what end just yet. But that is what's required.
Do the Police fine the individuals making the noise? I don't have an answer on that yet.
How many noises can a noise maker make? I don't have an answer on that yet either.

311 Will Not Send My Complaint To By-Law Office

I sent a noise complaint to 311 regarding the Party House a few doors down. I did this because the neighbourhood has rights, according to the Neighbourhood Liveability By-Law. I want the By-Law department to be aware that there is a noise violation occurring on my street. I want the By-Law people to know the Party House is continuing to disturb the neighbourhood in the middle of the night, waking up the residents of my street.
I already talked to the police, and made a report with them. I also asked the officer if he could tell me who actually enforces the Neighbourhood Liveability By-Law. I asked because 311 sent me an email saying they sent my complaint to the Police. The officer told me the By-Law department enforces the Liveability By-Laws. The officer said the offending people will be fined for making the noise.
So I replied to the 311 e-mail. I specifically stated in my email that I wanted the complaint to go to the By-Law department. I received a reply from 311 that the Police deal with noise complaints regarding people and the By-Laws department only deals with noise complaints made my machinery.
Do I have to quote the By-Law act to them? Do I have to educate the 311 agents? Or am I and the police officer I spoke with both wrong? I specifically asked for my email to go to the By-Law department and it was refused. So, I forwarded the email to a person in the By-Law department to see if 311 is correct. I want to know if I am allowed to request this information go to the people who can fine the individuals making the noise.
If the By-Law department are not aware of the noise issues taking place at the residence, then they are not able to get a complete picture of the By-Law related infractions at the residence. I was not calling 311 at 4:00am asking them to go to the residence and tell them to be quiet. I was not calling 311 to take immediate action on an issue that may get out of hand. I was contacting 311 after three instances of noise to have the repeat issue forwarded to the department that takes care of noise violations.

Here is the noise section of the act that pertains to human noise and animal noise:

Noise nuisance prohibited
67(1) Except to the extent permitted under this By-law, a person must not make or continue, or cause to be made or continued, or own or harbour an animal that makes:
(a) an unreasonably loud, unnecessary or excessive noise or sound;
(b) a noise or sound which unreasonably disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort,
repose, health, peace or safety of a reasonable individual of ordinary sensitivity; or
(c) a noise or sound which is so harsh, prolongued, unnatural or unusual in time and
place so as to occasion unreasonable discomfort to any individual or so as to
detrimentally affect residential properties or places of business.
67(2) In determining whether a noise or sound has been made which contravenes subsection (1),
the following factors, among others, may be taken into account:
(a) the time of day and day of the week on which the noise or sound was made;
(b) the nature and use of the area from which the noise or sound emanates and the
nature and use of the area at which it is received;
(c) the nature of the event or activity producing the noise or sound;
(d) the volume, duration and nature of the sound, including whether it is recurrent,
intermittent or constant; and
(e) the ‘A’ weighted sound level of the noise or sound and the ambient sound level, if
measured, but not ‘B’, ‘C’ or ‘linear’ weighted sound levels.
Certain activities prohibited

Thursday is Garbage Day In My Back Lane

Sure enough, 6am I heard the garbage truck coming down the lane. I sure am getting service these days. I could set my calendar to the garbage trucks now. Even civic holidays don't disrupt my Thursday garbage day. And this week the dumpsters were not even overflowing. There were a few dumpsters that were actually full, but not all of them. I think this week we only had regular residential garbage in our dumpsters. How weird is that!!!

There were a few issues in the back lane though. First, there is a dresser, two chairs and a foam mattress beside one of the dumpsters. The dresser has been there since Sept 4, and the foam mattress and chairs have been there since at least the 11th of Sept. I guess I was just wondering if they would be removed without me making a ticket. I am getting the feeling that I am the only one on my block that is reporting these items to 311. I was thinking that the paid employee of the City of Winnipeg that drives down the lanes verifying tickets might also drive down lanes looking for items for pickup. Maybe that was a little wishful thinking on my part. I will get on that today and report the items to 311 so the City worker can drive down my lane and verify that the items do need to be picked up. I think I should take a walk down the other lanes in my area as well, then, and see what other items have collected since the last time I did a back lane check. What would these people do without me? Maybe I should become a City Worker. Maybe 311 should put me on the payroll to walk or drive down back lanes and streets and report all the large items that are just sitting there, week after week. I could follow the garbage trucks and take note of the items they leave behind.

I could locate back yards where people leave their garbage in bags thinking the garbage trucks will pick it up. Here is a pile of garbage that is missing a dumpster. This garbage has been here since Sept 4. The people moved out of the house where these items are sitting. They did not bother to walk the garbage to one of the dumpsters in the back lane. The garbage trucks do not pick up anything that is not in a dumpster, and because this is just on the ground, it will stay there until I make a ticket to tell someone about it. I actually did make a ticket a few days ago. I requested that it be sent to City By-Laws for investigation. I also requested that this issue be looked at by those that decide where dumpsters go. There is a big gap in space between dumpster locations on either side of this particular residence. Maybe part of the fault in this garbage being dumped on the ground is that there is no dumpster close to this property. I wonder if one of the dumpsters at the end of the lane will get moved over behind that house. That would make sense to me. Why have a huge gap, then three dumpsters at the end of the lane.

If I was patrolling the back lanes of the North End I could also keep an eye on houses that choose to leave their garbage right below their upstairs windows. The upstairs tenant of the Party House is still tossing garbage out the window, and it just stays on the ground below. As the weeks go by, the garbage pile will grow, I am sure. It will grow until finally it is at the point where the City By-Laws officers will request the landlord to clean the property again.

The apples are still falling from the tree in the back yard of the Party House, and remaining on the ground. Nobody is cleaning them up. They are on the ground rotting and turning into muck. I could not imagine walking on that lawn. There are kids in the house and kids that play in the yard. The apples just squish under ones foot if they are stepped on. And the apples are still full of wasps. And the apples are feeding any animal around that needs to feed. I read the liveability act. This should not be an acceptable back yard. If I was employed to go down the back lanes and look for issues like this I could report them. But I am not. I am just a resident of one city block. I am just a resident who reached a tipping point. I am just one resident in the North End trying to take back my neighbourhood.

Fruit Share Winnipeg, What A Great Idea

If you have been reading my blog you are aware that I have wasps in my yard. I have a large amount of wasps in my yard. This is from the garbage in the back lanes and from an apple tree a few houses down from me. The apple tree is full of over ripe fruit, and it is falling on the ground and rotting. The apples in the tree are full of wasps and the apples on the ground are absolutely over run with wasps.
I did my civic duty and informed 311 about the issue. They, in turn, referred the issue to the City By-Law Office. But I still have rotting apples on my street, causing odor, wasps, and I am sure rodents.
My husband spoke with the property manager a few weeks ago, when he was shoveling out the suite for the residents. It seems it got too dirty, so the residents were temporarily removed, and house cleaning was performed. I digressed, sorry. The property manager said he did not care if we picked the apples. So, I went into the yard with a ladder and pail. I thought I would solve the problem and pick the remaining apples that were on the tree. I thought I could be a good neighbour and distribute the proceeds to everyone on the block. I began picking and was soon bitten by one of the wasps in the tree. My husband managed to pick half a pail of apples before we were driven out of the yard by the wasps.
In an earlier post I was suggesting that maybe the City By-Law Officers could collect the addresses of these problem trees and have them picked. The fruit could be donated to worthy causes, such as Winnipeg Harvest, soup kitchens, church groups who could bake with them, etc.
Then I was watching Breakfast TV this morning on Channel 5. There was a person on the show talking about a new group in town. They are Fruit Share Winnipeg. They have a blog at

http://fruitsharewinnipeg.blogspot.com/ and are currently working in a few areas of town only. But it is a start. If you have a tree that you would like to get picked, register it on their site. If you want to help picking, register on their site. What a great idea. Did I say that already? Who cares, I will say it again, what a great idea.

Now, what if that organization could get a list of problem trees? What if they could take care of these problem issues and turn them into a great day of picking apples?

What a great idea.

I Call The Police This Morning For Advise On The Party Duplex

I called the police this morning. I wanted to know what I can do, in a pro-active way, to remove the problems coming from the Party Duplex. I told the officer that I did not call the last two nights in the middle of the night because I was not sure anything would be done. I went through a brief history of the residence and the visits from the Police and the City By-Law Officer. I said even after everyone was removed a few weeks ago, they were brought right back in to the house to start the process over again.
I was met with sympathy and understanding. I was told to call the police in the middle of the night each time there is an issue. I was told the police would try to come out when the issue is happening, and they are not always too busy. I was also given the phone number for my district police office and told to give them a call.
I called the district police office and told that officer the same thing. Again, I was met with sympathy and understanding. I was encouraged to call the Police every time there is an issue, and to call when the issue is in progress. I was also told that there is a Livability Act that I should look into. I was told about the Community Support Unit, and I was told to contact my local MLA. I was told to have my neighbours sign a petition and sent it to my MLA.
I asked the officer what it would actually take to have these tenants removed. I told him that I was a landlord for a while and know that it is very difficult to evict problem tenants. The answer I got was that if we keep calling our complaints in to the police and keep informing the landlord about the issues that eventually the landlord will get tired of it and get rid of the tenants or the tenants will tire of the harrassment and move.
That was not the answer I was looking for. Where are the rights of the neighbourhood? And how bad does it have to get before a landlord finally has the right to, or is forced to evict a tenant?

I took a look at that Neighbourhood Liveability By-Law which I found on line at http://www.winnipeg.ca/CLKDMIS/Documents/DocExt/BL/2008/2008.1.pdf
Under the section of Basic maintenance
Section 4(1) properties must be safe .... and pose no threat to neighbours
Section 5 There is a general obligation to maintain the property
Section 6(1) the property should be free of garbage
Section 8(1) vegetation should not be unsightly
Under the section of Nuisances and Unsanitary Conditions
Section 29(2) the landlord should control infestations of rats, mice, pests and ensure to not provide food or harborage for pests
Section 29(3) there is an obligation to prevent existance of rats, mice, pests
Section 36(4) windows are to be kept in good repair
Section 53(1) occupants must not deposit, discard, leave garbage on street, public place, private property
Under the section for Noise
Section 67(2) noise is looked at by different criteria
  a- time of day / day of week
  b- nature and use of area where noise emanates and nature and use of area where noise is heard
  c- nature of activity producing sound
  d- volume, duration, nature of sound and whether the noise is recurring, constant or intermittent
  e- "the 'A' weighted sound level of the noise or sound and the ambient sound level, if measured, but not 'B', 'C' or 'linear' weighted sound levels (what does that even mean?)

These seem to be the sections of the Neighbourhood Liveability By-Law that are in violation that I can see from the outside. So why are the tenants back in the house?

City By-Laws Office reviewing how to handle illegal garbage dump complaint

As you may remember I sent a complaint in to 311@winnipeg.ca a few weeks ago. I reported an individual dumping his construction material in the dumpster in my back lane behind my house. I took a photo of the individual, his truck, and his license plate and sent it in with my complaint. The 311 call center people forwarded the complaint to the City By-Law office and provided a ticket number to me so I could track the ticket. I mentioned in the complaint that I would like to be informed on the progress with the ticket.
A few days later (Aug 26) I received a call from the City By-Laws office telling me that they could not proceed with my complaint. It turns out that they can not investigate license numbers. They have no access to the MPI database to find out who the registered owner of the vehicle is, so the person responsible for dumping the garbage can be dealt with. I was told that I should try to ask for identification of the individual who is doing the dumping so the By-Laws office could deal with the complaints.
I did mention that I did not feel safe in asking for identification, especially because I was in a back lane with an individual who was comitting an illegal act. The person at the By-Law office also told me not to put myself in harms way, but was stressing the fact that they did not have the ability to go further in the investigation because of privacy laws that were in place. Their office does not have access to the information needed to perform their jobs. I was told I could contact the supervisor of the By-Laws office regarding this matter, and was provided his name and phone number.
I called the supervisor, Kevin Seaford, and asked why my issue was not being taken care of. Again I was told that because of the privacy act, their office did not have access to the MPI database that would allow them to continue their investigation on this illegal dumping of garbage. The Mr. Seaford was aware that the illegal dumping of garbage in the North End is a huge problem. He has tried to go up the ladder in City Hall to get this issue of no access to information addresses. He has not been successful in gaining access to information needed to proceed with these sorts of investigations.
Mayor Sam Katz called me the day after I talked with Kevin Seaford. I sent him a link to my blog regarding the City By-Law office not being able to take care of my issue. He wanted to tell me he was working on a plan to make my neighbourhood safe. While he was on the phone I asked him what he was going to do about the City By-Law Office inability to get needed information, and told him about my issue. He said he would take care of my issue personally.
Well, I called 311 last Friday to check on my ticket number. That was a week after the Mayor promised to take care of my issue. I was told the 311 people have no information regarding it, and I would need to contact the City By-Law office personally, as that is the department they forwarded the issue to. I call the City By-Law office on Monday to check if anything was being done regarding the issue and my ticket specifically. I was told there was some discussion taking place regarding the procedures but the person had no information at that time. I talked with the person this morning and was told that the issue is currently in process. I was told the office is "reviewing how to handle" the issue of not being able to get needed information.
I guess that is a start. I know these things take time. I only hope some good will come of this.
I will be contacting the mayors office to see what they are doing, and keep you posted.

Comment: At Least You Can Have Large Items Collected

I received a comment on my last post entitled "Dumpster Takes Three Trucks To Clear".

Anonymous said...


You may be annoyed with multiple trucks to clear that pile of trash by the dumpster, but at least you can have large items collected for free at any time within a week of requesting it. There are communities where they can't afford to respond that quickly, and can only have large item collections once or twice a year.

The person is right. I can have large items collected for free. I am sure there are communities that do not have this option available to them. In Winnipeg, everyone is entitled to have large items picked up. The City of Winnipeg site states that there may be a fee of $20.00 assigned to the pickup, and they will collect up to six large items.  All a person has to do is contact 311.
In the North End there is not a charge for picking up large items. This is what I was told when I called 311 to ask why the garbage trucks keep driving down my lane without emptying any of the dumpsters. This was back in June. I was tired of getting little or no service in the way of waste management. I was also tired of trucks driving down my lane dropping large items off in my back yard at all hours of the night.
The problems with waste management in Winnipeg is one of the reasons I am writing this blog. I am tired of having to watch my back lane and make sure the garbage trucks are taking the garbage they are paid to take. The City of Winnipeg has contracted waste management out to a private company. This private company does not always do its job, and when it does, sometimes it only does part of its job. That is one issue that is occurring with waste management. I am getting my garbage removed weekly now, only because I spent an hour on the phone with 311 back in June explaining how the garbage truck keeps driving down the lane and takes nothing, week after week.

Another issue is that the North End has become a dumping ground for large items. Contractors dump their construction garbage. Residents dump their large screen TVs. We get couches, and mattresses from other areas of the city. Landlords are using the dumpsters to empty out problem houses instead of hauling large amounts of garbage to the Brady Landfill, or renting a temporary bin. These items are all being dumped in our back yards. Imagine waking up tomorrow morning in Transcona, River Heights, Charleswood, St James, and finding two couches and seven mattresses in your back lane. It might be up against your fence, or blocking the door to your garage. Maybe it is sitting in your yard next to the kids playhouse. Now imagine that you saw the person dumping the items, and they told you that you should be lucky that you get these items picked up for free as they got back in their truck and drove off. That is what is happening in the North End. And all you have to do is call 311 and someone will pick up the bulk garbage.

The trucks that pick up the bulk items are large garbage trucks. They are the trucks that open at the back to accept garbage. They are capable of handling large amounts of garbage. The contractors get paid by the ton I am sure. I have not seen the contracts, but I am sure it is something like that. But the bulk pickups state they will only pick up six items. The dumpster I was discussing had more than six items. So, it took two trips by this contract company to pick up a stack of items beside a single dumpster. I am sure there is a financial reason for this. I am sure there is a fee per ticket on top of the garbage collection fee associated with this issue. And each ticket created also costs to have a City employee drive out and verify the pick-up on top of the added cost to the contract company.

The next issue in this waste management mess is the illegal dumping of garbage. The process for reporting these people is to contact 311. They send the information to the City By-Laws people who do the investigating. But the City By-Laws people do not have access to the database at MPI that will allow them to see who is doing the dumping. So, although it is illegal for non-residents of these dumpsters to dump garbage and large items at or near the dumpsters, nothing is being done to stop the illegal dumping.

So, we have garbage trucks that may or may not pick up garbage. We have construction companies dumping their construction material in the back lanes of the North End. We have huge amounts of mattresses appearing in the back lanes of the North End. We have trucks coming in the middle of the night dropping residential garbage and large items. We have landlords filling entire back lanes with garbage as they empty problem houses. We have trucks that will only pick up six items at a time, and need to be called back to collect the remaining items in these huge piles. We have a City By-Law office that is unable to act on illegal acts. This is not as simple as "At Least You Can Have Large Items Collected".

A Call From The Mayor Himself

I got a call this morning. It was from Mayor Sam Katz. He likes my blog.
He called to tell me he is working with the Winnipeg Police on a plan to make the North End a safer place. Ya, Ya, like we havent't heard that before. But he seemed sincere. No, wait a minute, isn't there an election coming up?
While I had him on the phone I thought I might ask him a favor. See, I was talking to Kevin Seaford yesterday. He is at the City By-Law Enforcement Office, the city facade that is in place to placate the citizens. I had asked Kevin yesterday about their inability to process my "ticket" to go after the man who was doing the illegal dumping into my dumpster. Apparently Kevin has been after the powers that be for quite a while. He has been trying to gain access to the MPI database so they can process these complaints. He is quite frustrated in his office's inability to take care of these matters.
So here I am, with the Mayor on the phone. Sam said he read my blog. I asked him about the By-Law Departments inability to process my complaint. I asked him why they do not have access to the databases they need to do their jobs. His answer was similar to the City By-Law department. He said since the privacy laws have come in, they are restricted in what they have access to.
So I asked the mayor if I have to call the Police then, to have the issue taken care of. I suggested that the City By-Law department should actually be able to submit the vehicle license number to the Winnipeg Police, get the needed information back, and be able to process the complain. I told him the City By-Law department is currently just a fascade. He agreed that the City By-Law department should be able to get the information they need from the police.
Then he told me he was going to take care of my particular "ticket" personally. He was going to "personally make sure" it was taken care of. The mayor said it was just a shame that a citizen reports an illegal act and nothing is getting done about it.
I feel so much better, not. These are just words. A lot of words from City Hall.
What I want is results. I want to see that my ticket is taken care of. And I want to see the City By-Laws department actually being allowed to submit their requests for information to the Police and be able to get the needed information back.
Then I will believe what the Mayor told me. Then I may have a bit of faith in City Hall.

City By-Law Officers Are A Facade

Since moving to the North End a few years ago I have been witness to countless people driving up to my dumpster and depositing their household and commercial waste.
Back in 2008 I took a picture on one person who said very arrogantly that he had every right to put his chain link fence in my dumpster. He even posed for a picture. I did not do anything with the picture at that time, and when I sent it in to the By-Law enforcement people I was told it was too late for them to act on the issue. I was told they could proceed with current issues up to about 6 months old.
So, I started taking pictures again. When I have been home, and when I have heard someone rummaging in the dumpster outside my back yard, I grab my camera and head outside. I ensure that my husband is with me. I don't trust people in the back lane to leave me unharmed if I am there alone. We rush out to the gate, open it, and step into the back lane. Then we ask the person what they are doing, ask them if they are a resident of this street, and advise them that it is illegal to be dumping the garbage in our dumpster. While doing this I try to get a picture of them and hope to include a license plate of the vehicle in the picture.

 Then I get a picture of the garbage that was left behind by the person.
Once I have this proof of illegal activity, I send the information into the 311 people via email (311@winnipeg.ca).
The people at 311 give me a ticket number and let me know that they have forwarded the information on to the By-Law people who will take care of it for me.
That all sounds great. But I just got a call from the By-Law people. I have been informed that although I have a picture of the person, the license number of the truck, and a photograph of the items that were dumped in my dumpster, they cannot proceed with the issue. She said nothing will be done about it.

The reason nothing will be done about the issue is that the By-Law department has no authority to run a vehicle license plate. If there is no record of the vehicle license plate in their system at City By-Laws they cannot go any further. I was told even if they find the information on the vehicle license plate and go to the residence where it was insured, they have no authority to ask for identification of any person at that residence. It was something about privacy acts.
Who, in this city, created these rules? Why can an official in the By-Law enforcement office not have access to resources that can actually assist them in doing their jobs? Or why can they not turn the issue over to someone who does have access to the information needed to take care of these issues.
The By-Law enforcement officer suggested they could proceed if one was to ask for identification from the person committing the offence. I did say that I was already worried that we could be hurt just from going out and taking a picture of these people. I said I was not about to start asking for identification in a back alley. The officer completely understood my concern for my personal safety.
I do not, in any way, want you to think that this person from the By-Law department was rude or uncaring. Quite the contrary. The By-Law Officer shared my frustration in the situation and in the system that office is forced to work with. But here again, we are facing rules and procedures that make no sense at all.
I was told that this is not an isolated incident. I was told that this behaviour of illegal dumping is quite a problem. The By-Law officer didn't need to tell me that. I already knew.
I have heard from friends and neighbours that the issues in my back lane are they same as the issues in their back lanes. I have seen the garbage piled high in the dumpsters all through the North End.
So we have city workers employed in the By-Law department, being paid with our tax dollars. These By-Law officers are paid to enforce the city By-Laws. But they are not given the tools to actually enforce them.
The people who are driving into the North End, dumping their garbage in our yards and allleys, cannot be prosecuted for their illegal activities. The people who live in the North End and are witnessing these acts must put their lives in harms way to ask the criminals for identification.
Am I to report these issues to the police for investigation? Are they the only city workers who are able to do an investigation? Or should I call 911 when the act is occurring? Am I the irresponsible person here, not getting the proper information from the citizens of Winnipeg who are "cleaning up the city" by putting their garbage in my dumpster?
How much tax money does it take to stop the illegal dumping of garbage in the North End? Or is this just a facade, a system of bureaucratic steps designed to make the residents of the North End feel their concerns are being heard and their issues are being dealt with?