Councillor Grimes says some residents showed no respect to animals, people or officers. File photo.
Vehicle tow away statistics from the city.
Residents are calling for a meeting with the Mayor before Labour Day, when its fireworks time again.
Councillor Mark Grimes says the behaviour of some area residents on Victoria Day long weekend at waterfront parks shows a lack of respect for the environment, animals and our community.
“People were cutting branches off of live trees for bonfires, shooting fireworks at animals and enforcement officers, and treating our parks like garbage dumps,” Grimes wrote in his weekly report.
He had worked with City and enforcement staff for several weeks to develop a plan to deal with the fireworks, bonfires, illegal parking and litter.
“I was optimistic that we would have a good long weekend, but clearly something went wrong,” he wrote.
He has asked city staff to determine what went wrong and what else can be done.
“Officers were in the parks throughout the weekend, but were challenged due to the high number of visitors to the parks,’ the long-time politician said. “Discussions are underway to have more paid duty officers assigned to Ward 3’s destination waterfront parks.”
“Fireworks enforcement can be challenging due to the high number of parks and public spaces located throughout the city,” he said, adding enforcement resources are limited and calls related to essential services, public health measures and provincial emergency orders are prioritized.
“In many instances the responsible parties have departed the area prior to the arrival of enforcement resources,” Grimes explained.
He said bylaw officers must witness the fireworks discharge, and then may experience challenges in obtaining identification in order to lay charges for the illegal use of fireworks in a park. In some cases they may need support from Toronto Police to ensure the safety of staff and the public.
He moved a motion last October asking City staff to look at ways to strengthen the fireworks bylaw.
“People were shooting fireworks into crowds of people, at animals and even the police,” Grimes said. He will be moving another motion to strengthen the city’s ‘COVID-19 Unpermitted Fireworks Action Plan.’
That same night five circles of grass, which are homes of nesting birds, were burnt by an errant fireworks at Colonel Samuel Smith park. Wild animals, pets and birds are also scared off by the loud bangs and flashes of intense light.