ROXBORO – Rather than keeping an eye on the road, Charles Metwalli will be looking over his shoulder the next time he pulls out his skateboard for a leisure ride in Pierrefonds-Roxboro.
The 12-year-old was stopped by police on two separate occasions last year for using his skateboard on General Brock Road in the borough.
“Why can’t he just let me skateboard. I’m not doing anything wrong. It’s not really dangerous,” Metwalli told Global News.
The skateboarding enthusiast wasn’t fined on either occasion but the officer told him he had to walk and carry his board instead.
In Quebec, it is illegal to skateboard or use inline skates on any road in the province, regardless of whether it’s a busy urban boulevard or a small, quiet residential street.
It’s a law that dates back to 1986.
In other provinces the laws are governed by the municipalities.
Now, the boy’s mother, who’s a city councillor, is trying to force an amendment to Quebec’s Highway Safety Code.
“He was really, really upset when this happened. And when I told him you know what Charles, that’s why I’m in politics to make things better,” Justine McIntyre, a Montreal city councillor, representing the Bois-de-Liesse district in the West Island, said.
The councillor is pushing for a bylaw change in her borough that would at least allow inline skating and skateboarding on reserved bike lanes.
But bigger changes require amendments to the Highway Safety Code and that is governed by the National Assembly in Quebec City.
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For now, the Transport Minister won’t commit.
He says he is only considering making changes.
“We are working on something new about the code,” Robert Poeti told Global News.
There is a growing change across North America to lift bans on inline skating and skateboarding on city streets.
Victoria, B.C. recently lifted its ban, treating boarding and inline skating as new forms of transportation.
Toronto allows inline skating and skateboarding on sidewalks and some city streets.
McIntyre argues it’s time Quebec catches up with other North American cities.
“It’s just another mode of transportation and that needs to be reflected in the laws we have,” she said.
Last summer’s incidents involving the police officers won’t stop Metwalli from skateboarding this year but he will be more cautious.
“I’m going to skateboard and try to avoid policemen,” he said.
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