Young Writers Society

"If you're a member of the National Defence reserve, you may not miss taking part in a scheduled parade. The penalty is $25 to $50"

But...what if you're really REALLY sick (glances at box of tissues at her side)? Tis only a parade, after all....

In 1868 it became illegal to play games in a cemetery in Toronto. The penalty was a fine of $50.

In Windsor, Ontario, parks you are forbidden to play a flute, recorder or mouth organ, without a permit. In fact, it is illegal to play ANY instrument without a permit, except for unamplified stringed instruments, like guitars and violins.

Garbage in Oak Bay, B.C., can't ooze. It's illegal to put any damp or wet substance into a garbage can or bag, unless it has been drained, wrapped and sealed in watertight plastic bags or material, "so as not to ooze or leak." Garbage crews can refuse to empty any garbage can filled beyond 2 centimeters from the top, too. And finally, garbage cans have to be kept clean. If they're not, they don't meet regulations, and crews don't have to touch them (even though they are garbage cans and garbage is supposed to be dirty).

In Montreal it is illegal to wash your car in the street

You can't own a pet bat in Toronto. Same thing goes for skunks - even friendly, unsmelly ones. No pet porcupines are allowed, either. You may not own a snake which is poisonous, or one which (as an adult) will be longer than 3 metres, either. Lizards which will reach an adult length larger than 2 metres are forbidden, too.

It is illegal to wear a snake in public in Fredericton, New Brunswick, or to carry your pet lizard on your shoulder. The bylaw was first created because one young man carried his pet boa constrictor downtown and into some stores. It caused a stir. So now "no person shall have, keep or possess a snake or other reptile upon the street or in any public place... [unless] it is in a case, cage or other container" that will completely confine the creature. (I honestly thought the bylaw was created because some poor sucker got strangled to death.)

Barbed wire fences along or near any street in Calgary were forbidden in 1911. The penalty for having a barbed wire fence was $5 a day. (Why would anyone want a fence like that? In 1905 the city pound held more chickens and hogs than dogs, and the fences used then were to keep the animals from straying.)

It was against the law to park a wagon, carriage or car closer to a house than 10 feet (about 3 metres) in Calgary.

In Dorval, Quebec, visitors from out of town must pay for the visit of a firetruck - even if they didn't need it and didn't call the fire department. In 1994 a woman extinguished a small fire under the hood of her car, and then discovered a passerby on the road had called the fire department. The fire was out when the firetruck arrived. The bill came to $495. (The lesson here being don't start fires unless you're willing to pay for them.)

Alligators and crocodiles of any size whatsoever are not allowed in private Toronto homes.

In the Halifax Regional Municipality, no one can remove bark from a tree without permission.

No one over the age of 10 may rollerblade on the sidewalks of local streets in Kingston, Ontario. (The streets are listed, in case of disagreement over which ones are local.)

It used to be illegal to leave a vehicle on the street in Calgary unless a horse was attached to it, according to an 1885 bylaw.

Billy-goats could not be let loose on Edmonton streets.

Don't walk on the lines of the streets in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, if they've just been painted. It's illegal to "willfully drive or walk" on or over them. In Swift Current, it's only illegal if the line is marked by a sign, flag or warning device.

Since April Fool's Day, 1999, it is illegal to go canoeing, kayaking or rowing anywhere in Canada without a flashlight and a whistle. You'll need 15 metres of "buoyant heaving line," a bailing bucket and an anchor, too. The anchor has to have at least 15 metres of cable, rope or chain attached to it. But have no fear - if you don't have an anchor, you can still avoid unlawful behaviour. You'll just have to leave the "manual propelling devices" at home. In other words, go rowing without paddles, and you don't need an anchor. (Hmmm, if you could go rowing without paddles, you probably wouldn't need the boat, either.)

Dynamo wrote:Indecent exposure is still an offense in most places in Canada, but the definitions of a sufficient bathing dress have changed a lot. It is now legal for women to go topless on Ontario streets. Bathing doesn't even come into it. But in the early 1970s it was unlawful to wear a partially transparent bathing suit in Victoria, B.C.

Though it is technically legal, not one person I've met has ever been willing to go topless anywhere but a beach where lots of other women are doing it.

Of course, being allowed to do something and actually wanting to do it are two completely different things. But, don't you think it's interesting that women are allowed to take off their shirts in Ontario? lol


It is an offence to tease or annoy any animals in Inuvik, Northwest Territories.