BUNKER BYLAW AIMS TO PREVENT BIKER GANGS

Kenora city council launched a pre-emptive strike against outlaw biker
gangs Monday by unanimously passing a bunker bylaw.

The bylaw, called the Fortification of Land bylaw, will prevent biker
gangs, like the Hells Angels, from turning a local building into a
clubhouse fortress.

"It's better to do it ahead of time," said Mayor Dave Canfield.
"Preventative methods are there in case the situation arises." Canfield
said council along with the police services board have been mulling a
bunker bylaw for a year.

Kenora is bookended by a seven-member Hells Angels chapter in Thunder Bay
and a 13-member chapter in Winnipeg.

The Kenora OPP and the Kenora police force could not be reached for comment
on the issue.

Gord McTaggart, chairman of the police board, welcomed council's move.

"I think it's the right thing to do," he said. "We're not interested in
biker gangs setting up in Kenora."

The bylaw forbids using metal bars, steel plates, bullet proof shutters and
heavy wire mesh to cover windows. It also forbids reinforcing the walls of
a building with steel sheeting and plates or using extra concrete as a
barrier to repel attacks by bullets, vehicles, shock and explosives.

"We're closing the door now (on biker gangs) before they come here," said
Coun. Ron Lunny. "The city can't tolerate that. It's a tourist destination.
We have to keep it as crime free as possible."

Outlaw motorcycle gangs have been connected to some of the hundreds of
thousands of dollars worth of drugs, cash and guns seized last year, police
said during a drug seminar earlier this year.

Although the Hells Angels don't have a chapter in Kenora, they influence
the drug trade in the city, Det. Const. Dwain Hill of the OPP biker unit
said at the time.