Resident stung by country music bylaw

"It was a sunny, early spring afternoon, so I decided to wash a winter's worth of dirt off my truck," said the Grosvenor Avenue resident. "I popped in a CD and got to work in my driveway."

That was when the familiar yellow vehicle pulled up and Shapiro suddenly found himself holding a ticket for contravening the City of Westmount's bylaw banning country and western music from all public places. "It wasn't for washing my truck or anything like that," Shapiro explained. "It was for playing a Slim Whitman album outside! I haven't been this pissed off since I saw 'Brokeback Mountain!'"

The controversial bylaw, which was passed in 2005 under then-Director General Bruce St. Louis, forbids the playing of any form of country and western music, either recorded or live, in any situation where it may be heard by a neighbour or the general public. The original intention, as stated in Borough Council documents, was to promote Westmount's "high-brow" image by outlawing "low-brow" music. "You can blast Beethoven, the Beatles or Black Sabbath, but if you play Shania Twain in Westmount, you may be fined," St. Louis said at the time.

While plans to extend the ban to include hip-hop, rap and "anything with bagpipes" were scrapped following the municipal demergers in 2006, the anti-country legislation has remained in force and has since led to the modification of several local programs, including Contactivity Centre's line dancing classes for seniors.

Shapiro is not the first resident to run afoul of the law. Even city councillor George Bowser was issued a warning in 2006 after he inadvertently played a distinctly "countrified" chord progression on his guitar while performing with his daughter, Jeanne, at Family Day, and last year a family on Belmont Avenue received a visit from PSOs while watching the movie 'Coal Miner's Daughter' with their front windows open. "This is an oppressive law that should not be on the books," said Shapiro, a well-known country music aficionado who works as a corporate accountant by day. "If they want a real showdown, they've got one! I'll fix them — and the horse they rode in on!"