The Brampton City Council changed a bylaw to make it illegal to buy, sell, or use fireworks for recreational purposes anywhere in the city on Monday night.
Regional Councilor Dennis Keenan, who represents the city’s Wards 3 and 4, introduced a motion on Wednesday to change the fireworks bylaw to prohibit the sale and usage of fireworks and to raise the current sanctions.
Gurpartap Toor, a regional councilor representing Wards 9 and 10, seconded it.
At a council meeting on Monday night, the motion was approved by a unanimous vote.
“As promised during my recent electoral campaign, I’m sitting on Brampton City Council to make change – to voice the concerns of our residents, and take action on issues for the betterment of our community,” Keenan said in a news release.
Prior to this, residents were only allowed to set off fireworks four times a year on their private properties: on Victoria Day, Canada Day, Diwali and New Year’s Eve.
They could also only fire short-range pyrotechnics – that travel less than three metres, roughly the height of a basketball hoop – off their private property for those holidays. Fireworks that fly higher than that are illegal, as is setting them off on public spaces like sidewalks, streets or parks.
The new bylaw scraps those four exceptions, making personal firework use illegal at all times.
The bylaw also brings higher fines for those who don’t follow the new rules.
The fine for setting off fireworks will go from $350 to $500, while the fine for selling them will go from $350 to $1,000.
The film industry and city-run events will be excluded from the ban.
The bylaw comes weeks after a year-old petition started circulating, looking to restrict fireworks in Brampton and its surrounding areas. As of Monday night, over 10, 000 people had signed it.
According to the city, just under 1,500 fireworks-related complaints were made this year, citing excessive noise, fire safety concerns and litter as part of the grievances. In 2018, there were 492.
So far this year, Brampton’s By-law and Enforcement team said they issued over $38,000 in fines.
Source_ cbc.com
