Article content

TABER, Alta. — Do not disturb.

Or yell, or swear or spit on the sidewalk.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Taber, Alberta, outlaws bad behaviour with $75 fine for spitting in public and $150 for yelling or swearing Back to video

The southern Alberta town of Taber, population 8,104, which calls itself Canada’s corn capital, has brought in a bylaw to clamp down on bad behaviour.

But the fines may leave a bad taste in the mouth for anyone who breaks the law.

Reading like a page from the Old West, the bylaw includes a $75 fine for spitting in public and a $150 penalty for yelling, screaming or swearing in a public place. There are also limits on noise from bars.

The town’s “quiet hours” are between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.

“My personal reaction was well, it’s Taber. But my legal reaction was uh oh. I don’t think that’s going to pass muster with freedom of expression and freedom of association,” said Linda McKay-Panos, executive director of the Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre at the University of Calgary.

“I think it’s the culture of that place, but anywhere in Canada we have the protections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and [that includes] Taber.”