The City of Burnaby moved one step closer to an all-out ban on the sale of fireworks this week.
Council voted 7-1 in favour of a resolution recommending the city amend its fire services bylaw to prohibit the sale of fireworks across the city. The resolution received second and third reading at Monday night’s council meeting.
On Monday, Sept. 12, the resolution will again appear before council for final adoption. If approved, the flashy fireworks shops residents have grown accustomed to seeing every fall would no longer be allowed anywhere in the city.
But not everyone supports the decision to ban these shops. Coun. Pietro Calendino was the lone councillor to vote against the bylaw amendment at Monday’s meeting.
“In the past, I’ve always maintained that I enjoy watching fireworks, and I think it’d seem to be rather against my own position of the past to really go along with it,” Calendino told the NOW, adding he knew his opposition wouldn’t stop the resolution from moving forward.
The decision to go ahead with the amendment was made earlier this summer, when staff presented councillors with a report outlining the various problems associated with the fly-by-night fireworks shops that pop up all around the city every October.
Initially, Calendino said he was in favour of the ban because of the nuisance posed by these shops.
“People were ignoring our signage bylaw and plastering buildings with ugly signs,” he said. “But (Monday) night I decided, OK, well, I should stick to my principles. I like fireworks, so why go the direction of banning them?”
If the bylaw amendment is approved, Burnaby will join other Metro Vancouver municipalities that have already banned the sale of fireworks, including neighbouring New Westminster and Coquitlam. Residents will still be able to set off fireworks at Halloween, if they have the required permit.
The city’s fire Chief Joe Robertson said he’s pleased with the direction council is headed.
“We think it’s the right thing to do,” Robertson told the NOW. “The industry isn’t well regulated, so someone can set up a shop, and by the time we know about it, and we go to do an inspection, the season is over and the shop’s already done.”
The challenge for the department is trying to enforce Burnaby’s bylaws regarding the sale of fireworks, and while inspectors do the best they can, it’s hard to stay on top of enforcement, Robertson said.
“One less municipality selling fireworks might help things a little bit,” he added.
Representatives from the Canadian National Fireworks Association held a press conference Monday in Burnaby criticizing the city for its lack of public consultation while discussing the sales ban.
The NOW contacted the association for further comment following the council meeting but did not hear back before press time.
