Alcohol will be allowed at eight sa国际传媒 parks and beaches this summer despite the opposition of one city councillor.听
Council voted this week to make a trial project permanent with alcohol being permitted in Waterfront Park including Tugboat Beach, Sutherland Bay, Cedar Creek, Kinsmen, Sarsons Beach, Boyce-Gyro, Strathcona, and Rotary Beach.听
Last summersa国际传媒 trial project at three parks resulted in few complaints to police or bylaw officers councillors heard from staff at Mondaysa国际传媒 meeting.
鈥淎 lot of our residents really enjoyed it. They were able to connect with family and friends and do it (drink alcohol) in a manner where they weren鈥檛 having to hide and feel like they were necessarily restricted,鈥 said Derek Edstrom, director of partnerships and investments.听
鈥淲hen we saw the (no alcohol) restrictions taken away, (use) was done in a responsible manner,鈥 Edstrom said. 鈥淚t was well-received and we believe that it should go forward at the level it is (with alcohol being allowed at eight parks) without a dramatic increase beyond that.鈥
It was clear from the trial project that people enjoyed being able to have alcohol in some parks, Mayor Tom Dyas said. 鈥淭he response that came back from the community, as staff just said, was positive,鈥 Mayor Tom Dyas said.听
And allowing alcohol at more parks might also limit drinking and driving if people are able to walk from their homes to a nearby park where they could drink, Dyas suggested. 鈥淚t鈥檒l make it more convenient for that aspect of it, too,鈥 he said.
But Coun. Lovegrove objected to allowing alcohol in the eight parks, citing in particular the increasing messaging from domestic and international public health authorities that no amount of alcohol is safe.听
鈥淭his won鈥檛 promote safe use. What it will promote is normalization to those most vulnerable in our population, thatsa国际传媒 our youth,鈥 Lovegrove said.听
He also said statistics show 44 percent of drownings include alcohol use as a contributing factor, suggesting it wasn鈥檛 a good idea to permit drinking on or near popular beaches.听
But Coun. Charlie Hodge said he was in favour of 鈥渁llowing people to rise to their own level of logic and rationale鈥 and said some would choose to get 鈥渃razy and drink too much鈥 on beaches regardless of whatever rules are in place.听
鈥淲e have to recognize that some people simply want to go to a beach and have a glass of beer or a glass of wine and enjoy their day rather than hide it under a blanket and pretend itsa国际传媒 not there,鈥 Hodge said.听
While approving alcohol use in the eight parks, councillors indicated they wanted to get a future report from staff on the subject.听
