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Opinion: Don’t back your horse and buggy into a parking spot

Drunken singing, nude-bathing in Okanagan Lake and scaring the Queen also a no-no
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This is the Welby stagecoach delivering mail on the Keremeos-Penticton route in 1912.It went as far as Hedley and Princeton. K Mountain is in the background, and you can see the emerging 20th century technology behind the stagecoach. (South Similkameen Museum)

A number of years ago I got a ticket for backing into a parking spot in New Westminster.

It turns out a bylaw dating back to the 1800s prohibits backing up your horse and buggy into a parking spot.

I discovered this outdated law when I went down to the courthouse to find out why I got a ticket.

The overzealous bylaw officer who gave me the ticket knew full well that I was not driving a horse and buggy and this was not the 1800s.

I fought the ticket in court and the judge couldn’t believe the law was still in the books.

There are all sorts of hilarious laws on the books in B.C.

According to British Columbia Magazine, a law in Kelowna established in 1906 prohibited nude bathing but only in Okanagan Lake, and only between the hours of 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Non-compliant sunbathers risked 30 days in jail. This law has since been repealed.

In Nanaimo, drunken singing was illegal until a few weeks ago. I wish I would have known that when I lived in a high rise at the Quay in New Westminster. Every Friday night, around 1 a.m., a man would happily zigzag down our road singing opera, not very well, at the top of his lungs.

His voice would echo between the high-rises creating a booming impact.

Also in Nanaimo, a bylaw passed in 1896 that set the maximum speed one could ride a bicycle at eight miles per hour on streets and lanes and six miles per hour through intersections.

No mention of bike lane speed though!

It is still against the law to own a tiger in B.C.

That’s probably a good law to keep.

In Esquimalt, it was prohibited to throw snowballs within city limits. To the joy of every child, this law is long gone.

It’s illegal to use a dog sled on a sidewalk in the town of Hay River in the Northwest Territories.

That one just makes sense.

One that is still on the books in Alberta is painting a wooden ladder actually goes against the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Code. The reason being is that the paint hides the age and condition of the ladder.

Be careful how you act when meeting the Queen. It’s against the law to frighten or alarm the Queen and that law has been in the books since 1842.

A jump scare of the Queen could land you 14 years in jail.

All over B.C., dogs aren’t allowed in a park, at a beach or off-leash except at designated off-leash parks. Recently, B.C. created a rule that there is no smoking at beaches. Sadly, that one is being ignored, at least in the Okanagan.

I wish there was a law that would see loud muffler motorcycles being seized if they go through city limits and past restaurant patios. I also wish there was a law that forced people to use their blinkers or not drive under the speed limit in the passing lane.

The best law of all would be to fine rude people to work 200 hours of customer service. Now that would be a great law.

Monique Tamminga is the editor of the Penticton Western News and the Keremeos Review



Monique Tamminga

About the Author: Monique Tamminga

Monique brings 20 years of award-winning journalism experience to the role of editor at the Penticton Western News. Of those years, 17 were spent working as a senior reporter and acting editor with the Langley Advance Times.
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