Prince Edward Island police hoping to have “outlaw colours” banned from businesses

Police across PEI are working on a new initiative: banning clothing that promotes outlaw motorcycle gangs from businesses.

In the past 10 years, Atlantic Canada’s seen a big resurgence by one-percenters, with homegrown clubs expanding and nationally-based outlaw motorcycle gangs making inroads again, after being pushed out in the early 2000s. Even PEI, often considered a neutral territory by one-percenters, has seen growth of outlaw clubs.

To that end, the Guardian is reporting RCMP and other police agencies are working on a “no gang colours, no gang clothing” program that would see businesses partnering with police to ban individuals wearing clothing that promotes outlaw motorcycle clubs. In this voluntary program, participating businesses can call the police and have them remove individuals who are wearing clothing that promotes outlaw clubs.

The Guardian quotes an RCMP corporal as saying such programs do exist elsewhere in Canada, and that PEI is already seeing violence as a result of outlaw gang members wearing their colours in public.

What the story does not indicate is the method of determining whose colours are banned. With new clubs popping up all the time, of both the outlaw and non-outlaw variety, who’s going to get the boot?  Will HOG members be thrown out of bars? What about emergency personnel clubs like the Blue Knights, the Red Knights, the Iron Order? Stay tuned on this one.


Canada - BNN.