REGINA - Residents of Regina hoping to be able to consume beverage alcohol in one of their outdoor public parks this summer are out of luck.
Regina city council closed the door on city administration’s proposal to allow alcohol to be consumed in 12 outdoor parks, one in each ward, on a trial basis this summer.
In the end the final vote was 7-4 against. Only Councillors Bob Hawkins, Andrew Stevens, Jason Mancinelli and Mayor Sandra Masters voted yes. All other councillors voted no.
The result of the vote is that the city will not go ahead with a bylaw on the designation of parks for alcohol consumption, which would have formalized the changes. That bylaw was withdrawn.
So ends a discussion which began when the Saskatchewan Legislature passed changes this spring that would have allowed municipalities to make the decision of whether to allow alcohol in their outdoor parks.
Regina was the first major city in the province to see a proposal come to city council prior to the end of the summer. But it has been a rocky road from the start, with plenty of opposition expressed even as far back as Executive Committee when it was passed by a narrow 6-4 vote.
When the issue initially came back to the full council meeting in July with a revised list of the 12 proposed city outdoor park locations, upwards of 30 delegations had registered to speak at that meeting, almost entirely in opposition to alcohol in parks. But council was overwhelmed by a lengthy agenda on other matters and the whole discussion was tabled to the Aug. 16 meeting.
On Wednesday, council finally did hear from those delegations. They spent the afternoon in Henry Baker Hall listening to a long line of presenters, and also written submissions from residents expressing opposition to alcohol in public parks.
Jim Engel, a retired public servant, expressed his own concern that North America tended to have a “binge culture” where “drinking to excess is not only tolerated, it’s sometimes accepted and celebrated.”
“I don’t see anyone advocating for this, I don’t see anyone lobbying for this. I just see a lot of people who see this as a bad idea and don’t want to proceed," said Engel.
Another presenter, Krista Stevens, spoke against the selection of Stewart Russell Park as one of the 12 outdoor parks, saying she had seen firsthand the horrors of alcohol abuse and had “seen a great deal of crime in Stewart Russell Park already.”
Stevens also said she did a survey of her neighbourhood on the idea, in which 92 per cent were opposed.
“Just because something is permissible does not make it beneficial,” she said.
The presentations at council seemed to make an impact. Councillor Dan LeBlanc said he initially planned to vote for alcohol in parks, but the presentation from Stevens had swayed him. He said he would be voting no.
Others such as Councillor Lori Bresciani especially pointed to concerns about a lack of adequate consultation by administration with the public in advance.
She pointed to the importance of something like this requiring residents' feedback "not after it's gone through, but prior to to see even if they want it."
"It's not like we're going to have it, it’s like do you even want it in our parks? To me that was a miss,” said Bresciani.
Meanwhile, those who had entered the meeting already opposed to alcohol in parks, such as Councillors John Findura and Terina Nelson, maintained their staunch opposition Wednesday, with Findura pointing to the "many many many other issues" council needed to deal with.
Findura pointed to roads, policing, and fire, and made it known he thought the costs for alcohol in parks would pull money that might be needed in other areas in the city budget.
"We're spending money on something we don't need to," said Findura. "I am totally opposed to this. Folks have many places that they can have a drink."
Nelson said she received multitudes of emails and phone calls from residents opposing alcohol in the park.
"I have not received one email that has suggested this is a great idea," said Nelson.
In speaking to reporters afterward, Mayor Masters said the vote means "it's a settled matter for the time being."
But she did point to examples where the issue could come back, such as if "the provincial capital commission were to come forward to the city of Regina with a request for the PCC, that is one option," Masters said.
Also, it was noted people can still apply to the city for a permit to have alcohol in parks for a wedding or event.
As for the concerns raised about a lack of consultation, Masters pointed out that administration's plan for alcohol in parks would have allowed a "proving out of some of the concerns," pointing to the experience of other municipalities which brought in alcohol in parks and didn't see those concerns come to pass.
"All of those concerns have existed in every other municipality. And so I think the idea was to start very small, very cautioned, be able to bring it back how many months later on, how many weeks later to determine the number of calls about litter, the number of calls to (Regina Police Service), number of calls from concerned residents for issues that are being raised. So I think the idea was not much different from a pilot project, sometimes just to garner success or failure of certain issues that we want to bring forward or perhaps issues we want to start. I think it was along those lines."
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