The man who was issued a $75 ticket for feeding a squirrel in Westmount Park is of course playing to the balconies on this one, ensuring that the outlandish figure of his current $455 fine is in the lead of every news report. As the hapless victim of a little-known bylaw, he has received newspaper, radio and TV coverage, not to mention being the subject of CJAD talk show last Friday morning.

If this continues, reporters will no longer be able to simply call up Mr. Kert for an interview; they will have to go through his agent.

The result of all this? "Ha ha ha! Stupid Westmount does it again!"

This is not the first time one of our so-called quirky little bylaws has been ridiculed in the mainstream media, nor is it likely to be the last. But throughout it all, no one can argue that the City's anti-feeding bylaw was not passed with the very best of intentions.

The case against Mr. Kert will likely be dismissed at a subsequent court appearance, for it will be difficult to prove that the Public Security officer who issued the citation gave him fair warning beforehand, and that there were posted signs informing him of the bylaw. Ignorance of the law may not be a defence, but there should be a reasonable expectation of knowing right from wrong. From the defendant's perspective, he could just as easily have been fined for chewing gum while walking, or for wearing a blue hat on a Thursday.

Either way, the very fact that the simple act of feeding a squirrel can escalate into a big cause celebre that draws ridicule on Westmount is an absurdity in itself. But if nothing else, this case has inadvertently served as an effective publicity campaign to alert everyone to the bylaw.

Now, if only Westmount's dreadful parking situation could be given equal attention in the mainstream media, the negative publicity might actually have some positive repercussions.