District of North Vancouver council is again moving to snuff out Halloween fireworks.
Council voted 3-2 Monday night on a motion asking staff to report back on options for a ban of the retail sale and use of consumer fireworks and smoke generating pyrotechnic devices.
The district is one of just a handful of Metro Vancouver municipalities that still grants temporary licences that allow people to purchase fireworks, and to discharge them on private property from 6 to 10 p.m. on Oct. 31.
The previous district council debated a ban in 2020 and 2021, and ultimately voted to allow them to stay.
Coun. Jim Hanson brought the matter back for discussion again on July 24.
Hanson acknowledged that some regard the backyard pyrotechnics as “innocent and fun and part of our community’s traditions,” but he said, council must also weigh that against the harms fireworks bring to pets, wildlife, people living with PTSD and sensory sensitivities, the environment as well as their potential for something worse.
“Fireworks could very literally be the spark that sets our district on fire. In my view, other local governments have followed the correct path in banning fireworks and the time has come for us to follow suit,” he said.
Coun. Betty Forbes previously voted in 2021 to keep fireworks in the district but said she had a change of heart. Forbes cautioned, though, that the anti-social use of fireworks will likely continue regardless of what council decides.
“Usually the people who are doing the things that cause so much headache are not the people that just want to light off some fireworks and go home and have a hot chocolate,” she said. “I don’t want it to be a false sense that this is not going to happen anymore, because that segment we’ll continue to do it.”
Coun. Catherine Pope supported Hanson’s motion, adding she received dozens or “perhaps hundreds” of emails from constituents upset over fireworks in 2022.
Mayor Mike Little voted against the ban, arguing that once-a-year colourful explosives are “a beloved cultural activity in our community.”
“It’s not something you find in Ontario. It’s something you find out here. It’s something that’s been so uniquely British Columbia,” he said. “I think the benefits outweigh the risks.”
Little was joined by Coun. Jordan Back, who agreed that too much would be lost without the noisy amusements.
“We live in a time when it’s never been more important to have opportunities for communities to get together and gather and connect, and for me one of those opportunities has always been Halloween,” he said, recalling his own memories of backyard displays. “I understand that times change, but I think in this case, a ban is not going to have the sort of effect that we would like it to.”
Couns. Herman Mah and Lisa Muri were not present for the meeting, although Little pointed out, it would be unlikely to change the outcome as Muri had been in favour of a ban when it was last discussed.
