We are not the only community with Firework problems

The following was sent to me by one of my readers I see we are not the only community that had problems with Fireworks. Thank goodness at the end of the day common sense prevailed.


 A fireworks cheer for fire chief

Mike W. Bryant
Staff columnist
Friday, December 31, 2010 

Previous columns 

Hats off to Yellowknife fire chief Darcy Hernblad and reasonable regulation minders everywhere.

Hernblad has broken the shackles of free-thinking men and women living in the city of Yellowknife so they can once again proudly purchase fireworks for private New Year's parties like normal grown-ups should, without fear of exorbitant fines and government retribution.

Gone are the dark days of his predecessor who would have had us cower in fear should we dare skip his $150 mandatory fireworks class and light off a Roman candle or cherry bomb without his suffocating hand to guide us.

It seemed incredible to me last year when former fire chief Albert Headrick decreed that henceforth no one in the city could purchase or handle consumer fireworks - the regular garden variety not used in large professional shows - unless they could find the time and money to attend his rinky-dink course, limited to a maximum 20 people.

It was even more incredible that not a single city councillor or MLA found it bothersome that an unelected, unaccountable bureaucrat could make a decision limiting the activities of taxpaying voters without their approval or consent.

How ironic then that Headrick was here barely long enough to witness the fruits of his directive. Two months after all but banning fireworks usage by adult Yellowknifers he returned to Saskatchewan after living in Yellowknife and serving as fire chief for 22 months.

"There's so much damage caused by fireworks displays and injuries that are sustained with them," said Headrick without providing a shred of evidence.

I say that because after poring through this newspapers' archives I couldn't find a single story related to injuries from fireworks in the Northwest Territories in 15 years. There are plenty enough involving, say, snowmobiles.

In fact, there have been two snowmobile-related deaths in and around Yellowknife just this year alone. Yet, as long as one has a valid driver's licence, there is no requirement from the city to take a separate course to learn how to drive a snowmobile.

I might be inclined to argue that driving a car and driving a snowmobile are two entirely different things. Nonetheless, take your snowmobile outside city limits and you're not even required to wear a helmet, let alone have a special licence to drive one of these potentially very dangerous machines.

Yes, in the wrong hands or in the wrong location, fireworks can spell disaster. It seems just as unwise to hand your 12-year-old a box full of Saturn Missiles as it would to fire them at your neighbour's house.

People, especially young people, do get hurt. Thankfully the rules require users to be 18, to have a permit and to set fireworks on ice a safe distance from people's homes.

Happy fireworks days are here again, and just in time for New Year's. It would have been nice to have some forewarning but still we have Hernblad, a Yellowknifer of 30 years, to thank for having the foresight and reasonableness of mind to let common sense rule.

It's a refreshing position coming from a public servant. Too often the impulse seems toward nanny statism and rules for rules' sake. 

Fireworks in the Crowsnest Pass

Check out the latest video from CTV Lethbridge.
In the next chapter of "Ripping down the foundation so it can be rebuild correctly, and one day you lucky people will thank me for this"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9CmuBgekh8

Fireworks To ban them or to ban them

Tuesday night on the agenda is the second and third reading of the Fireworks bylaw.

March 6 first reading passed by a vote of 4-3. With councilors Gail, Gallant and Saje opposed.


There was a presentation made by the Interim Fire Chief about the bylaw he spoke in support of banning the sale and use of fireworks in the Crowsnest Pass. He was questioned about the possibility of allowing fireworks under a regulated process. But made it very clear that where other communities have allowed it the process was so Onerous that in reality Fireworks are allowed but people do not sell them because simply the procees is so complicated that nobody can be bothered.

So hence the title of my post "To ban them or to ban them"

Now I am sure  some of the councilors have been feeling a little pressure on this issue (especially with Fireworks being such an hot topic right now) so maybe somebody will flip flop on the vote Tuesday night time will tell.

But really if the process is going to be so difficult that nobody will bother, you really are banning them you are just providing the decision makers the opportunity to say "I didn't support banning Fireworks, I voted to allow them" .

But on the other side of the arguement the more laws in place the more potential for the Community Peace Officers to pay there way.

  

Thunder in the Valley Committee Reacts

Just took this off my fellow bloggers site John Prince at http://blog.johnprince.ca/

Dear Editor:

Upon learning of Crowsnest Pass Municipal Council's decision to cancel the upcoming Thunder In The Valley event originally scheduled for July 2012, we would like to express our sincere disappointment. 

For the past eighteen years we have poured our hearts and souls, as well as thousands of volunteer hours, into putting on one of the largest fireworks shows in southern Alberta. We would also like to thank the people of the Crowsnest Pass for their overwhelming support that has allowed us to continue for almost two decades. 

It has been made evident to us over the past few months that Council, as well as the RCMP, have lacked the support or desire to see this event continue. As it finally came to a tipping point on March 6, 2012, it became very clear that the members of the council have been looking for reasons to cancel the event rather than find solutions to promote and continue with it. 

In an email from Councillor Saindon on March 7th, he informed us that even though "(they) know this event draws an enormous crowd (that they) as a committee need to move forward with new events that will still draw people and make the weekend a success." 

We have always contended that we did not want to push an event on this town that was not desired. We now have to accept that it is not. Council has informed us that they do not have an adequate plan in place to address the concerns raised. This appears to be no more than an excuse, using the guise of inflated cost evaluations coupled with the refusal to make appropriate plans. We question as to why council has deferred this planning until only a few months prior to an event of such a large scale in the community? As far as we understand, the monetary value of the policing and management of the Rum Runner Days weekend was a large factor in council's decision. 

After reviewing the proposed 'budget,' which is full of inflated figures, it is no wonder that they decided to cancel the event. Rather than working with the current situation, they would prefer to go in a different direction and "focus on the parade, car show, Gazebo park events, free stage, potential concert, dinner and dance etc." 

We also find it unusual that the Municipal council based its decision on the recommendation of two individuals, the CAO and the Interim Manager, Enforcement Services, neither of whom even live in the community full time nor took the time to meet with our organization to discuss their concerns. 

However, as mentioned in our original statement following the announcement, we do not agree with Municipal council's decision, but we will abide by it as they have been elected to speak for the people of the Crowsnest Pass. 

We do find it interesting that the municipality has recently found funds available to create several new positions and to spend enormous amounts of money on having bylaws created and revised, but when it came to spending money on public safety for an event that draws thousands to the area, the financial burden became too high. 

Interestingly enough, the Crowsnest Pass Promoter recently published an article regarding a new fireworks bylaw, in which Donna Tona is quoted as saying "If we continue with our fireworks show, Thunder in the Valley, we do need to follow the rules of the province [and] all the Acts.” 

We find this surprising as news to us, as the members of our organization are regulated by the Federal Government through the Explosives Regulatory Branch and use fireworks that are not subject to provincial acts. It brings into question how much research was actually done by her. 

Following that up, the article mentions that "Mayor Decoux questioned why Thunder in the Valley organizers haven’t brought the issue to the attention of the RCMP if it was against federal law." Quite honestly, we are embarrassed that the mayor's ignorance regarding what we have been doing for the past eighteen years. We did not realize that it was a volunteer organization's responsibility to ensure that the municipal council was doing its due diligence in matters of legality. 

Between the comments of Tona and Decoux in the article, our organization was quite offended, making us feel that we have been nothing but a group of common criminals for the last eighteen years. 

We would ask that before Mayor Decoux or Interim Manager, Enforcement Services speak publicly about our organization in the future that they would do some adequate research to avoid slandering our organization's reputation. Possibly in the future they may want to actually consult us directly on such matters.


Thunder in the Valley Committee