Unlike neighbouring communities, discussion about updating Bradford West Gwillimbury’s fireworks bylaw fizzled with barely a whimper.
Councillors received a thorough overview of the 1996 fireworks bylaw from staff during the committee-of-the-whole portion of the May 18 council meeting, with options as to the steps the town could take to address concerns raised by residents, given directly to mayor and council or posted on social media.
Staff acknowledged the commentary online can be found in various online locations citing concerns related to excess noise, animal welfare and fire hazards, among others, but stressed there are “very few and limited complaints filed with the enforcement division” in any one year.
In their research, staff found that most neighbouring municipalities, such as Innisfil and New Tecumseth, are reducing the number of days someone can legally set off fireworks. Bradford West Gwillimbury councillors were content with not removing any days from the calendar.
In fact, what some were hopeful to see was working within the 10 days currently permitted under the bylaw when fireworks are allowed to be to be set off - before, during and after Victoria Day and Canada Day - to include other culturally significant celebrations, such as the Lunar New Year and Diwali.
“I’m not in favour of taking any days away; I do want to look at adding days because we’ve been approached by other communities to add days,” said Coun. Raj Sandhu. “People are (already) doing it. I have to be honest: when Diwali comes, you hear the fireworks; when Chinese New Year comes, you hear the fireworks, so we might as well make it legit.”
Coun. Peter Ferragine urged caution with that approach.
“Once you add two-three holidays, you’re opening it up,” he said. “Somebody is going to say, “well, if you’re going to add that, I’d like to add mine.’ We’re going to get into a snowball effect where… you’re going to have a lot more days to shoot off fireworks.”
Ferragine saw additional logistical concerns, including availability and permitted sales days, but stressed he wasn’t against the specific celebrations that could be added, more so the actual additional permitted days themselves.
Sandhu compared officially allowing fireworks on Lunar New Year or Diwalli to the town’s plethora of flag raisings: being something that enhances inclusion throughout the community. He also felt it could be done without taking away from Victoria Day or Canada Day. Staff has committed to work with the town’s anti-racism committee to address the issue.
The staff report also looked at improving enforcement of the current bylaw, which has been Newmarket’s approach in dealing with resident concerns about fireworks. Local staff already consider Bradford West Gwillimbury’s existing bylaw “fairly restrictive,” and enforcement is among the biggest challenges.
This difficulty was explained in-depth through the report to committee-of-the-whole, outlining issues including the time of day when offences occur, the often vague complaints received from the public, general safety concerns for enforcement officers and the inability to respond quickly enough to determine who actually set off a firework in order to issue a fine under the bylaw (and prove it in court).
Councillors agreed enforcement was difficult and expressed hope people would act neighbourly to each other.
“This report came back because we had a couple of complaints,” said Deputy Mayor James Leduc. “It’s pretty well impossible to police this. What we look for is for our residents to respect their neighbours, respect the area around you (and) respect the animals.”
Committee recommended the existing bylaw remain in place while staff improves administrative functions and reporting. Moving in this direction would allow staff to get better tabs on the exact number of complaints being received in any one year and where they’re coming from. This would give staff a better view on if any increase in complaints in the past two years has been more pandemic-related – as more individual events have been taking place while public gatherings have been paused – or indicative of a new trend.
A “Fireworks Documentation” package is also in the works, that can be provided to residents who have concerns about repeat offenders. The details in this package could then help enforcement staff in an investigation, leading to additional educational outreach or escalated to a legal proceeding, if warranted.
The data collected will be essential for council to make informed decisions on any future revisions to the fireworks bylaw.