Edmonton looks at banning the sale of knives at convenience stores

Edmonton city council is looking at potential new rules for businesses selling legal knives in hopes of clamping down on violence in the city.

City councillors on Monday reviewed four options after business and community groups lobbied for changes earlier this year. Edmonton could ban sales at convenience stores, ban sales to minors and demand all stores selling knives to keep them locked up, ramp up enforcement against individual wayward businesses using existing rules, or spend more time advocating to the provincial and federal governments to fund prevention efforts to keep youth and vulnerable people away from crime along with stronger federal knife restrictions.

The committee opted not to make a decision Monday so that all members of council can weigh in at the next city council meeting Oct. 2.

Before deferring a vote, Ward Métis Coun. Ashley Salvador motioned for the first and fourth options — a new business licence category for convenience stores, and advocacy to the provincial and federal governments. This could lead to Edmonton’s estimated 500 to 600 convenience stores being banned outright from selling all knives — or knives that are not cutlery — to anyone, or to minors, or to keep knives locked up. Anyone under 25 could be required to show ID to buy a knife at a convenience store.

Salvador said this approach directly addresses concerns she’s heard about easy access to knives. It also gives the police another enforcement option — something the Edmonton Police Service requested.

“When it comes to making the city safer and enabling some enforcement action around this particular issue, I think it does that,” she said. “This is by no means a silver bullet or solution to a lot of the other challenges that we’re seeing here. And ultimately other orders of government have better tools and stronger tools than we do here locally at the municipality.

“That being said, I think moving forward with bylaw amendments at this time adds one more tool to our toolbox.”

Ward O-day’min Coun. Anne Stevenson called it “a workable and exciting solution.”

No funding was tied to the motion. City staff estimated it would cost $940,000 to implement over two years. Without the funding, council heard this could mean the city wouldn’t be able to do the kind of education and outreach necessary to make the kind of impact envisioned. Enforcement would be driven by complaints instead of having to do proactive outreach and education to make sure convenience stores are applying for the right business licence and following the rules.

It could also slow applications for all other business licences with resources directed to this work.

Ward Anirniq Coun. Erin Rutherford moved to requisition the item to council saying this could have impacts on the entire city.

“When I think about our business licensing slow-down, I think that those are things all of council should weigh in on in terms of even if administration should do the work to make this amendment.”