Gillingham wants to know whether drone bylaw might fly
Councillor says unmanned aerial vehicles create safety, privacy concerns
Coun. Scott Gillingham wants to know whether the City of Winnipeg can regulate the use and sale of drones.
Gillingham (St. James-Brooklands-Weston) has authored a council motion to ask city staff to look into the feasibility of creating a bylaw to regulate unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as UAVs or drones.
"This motion is just to ensure UAVs are operated safely," Gillingham said Tuesday in an interview, citing the potential for collisions between drones and other aircraft.
"There have been sightings of drones by WestJet pilots and Air Canada pilots as they're coming in for final approach in Winnipeg. That's a concerning thing. That's a public safety issue," he said.
Gillingham said there are also reports in other cities of camera-equipped drones looking into people's yards or homes.
The councillor said he'd like to know whether Winnipeg could draft a bylaw to alleviate privacy concerns and safety concerns when it comes to operating drones. The retail piece of the legislation would involve customer education at the point of sale, he said.
The motion is slated to come before September's meeting of council, which takes place Wednesday, where it will be automatically referred to the October meeting of council's public works committee.