Alcohol consumption could be a new norm in local and provincial parks.
Alberta’s Minister of Municipal Affairs, Kaycee Madu, asked municipalities to contemplate the possibility, which sparked the conversation at the Town of Bonnyville council meeting on June 25.
“They’re bringing back the old rules of consumption of alcohol in provincial parks, and at the same time, they’re considering relaxing the alcohol consumption rules for day use areas,” explained CAO Mark Power. “They’re asking municipalities to consider, they’re not saying do it, they’re just saying have a discussion and consider it.”
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney announced in May the bans on liquor in provincial parks, which had been in place since 2004, would be lifted. They also committed to removing unnecessary red tape for festival organizers hosting events in municipalities and provincial parks, along with relaxing liquor regulations on 14 provincial park day use picnic sites starting June 28.
In a letter to the town, Madu said, “These changes came into effect just in time for the May long weekend, and the feedback received so far has been overwhelmingly positive. I would like to encourage you as municipal leaders to follow the province’s lead in reducing unnecessary regulation in your own municipal parks.”
In order to look into the topic further, council referred the subject to the policing committee.
Mayor Gene Sobolewski noted there could be issues around the idea of enforcing any changes.
”The letter from Minister Madu talked about responsible adults, but we all know there’s going to be irresponsibility,” he said. “Basically, it’s to make sure... if it’s something that we want to look at, that we go into it with eyes wide open and consider all the issues and implications.”
Coun. Brian McEvoy didn’t believe there was enough information available for the town to make any adjustments.
”There’s really nothing there to make a hard decision on... We have a lot to look at, and we need people with a lot more knowledge of the liquor control acts and all the rest of the (topic) to make a recommendation to us on relaxing (our laws),” he exclaimed.
When it came to having alcohol at festivals, Coun. Elisa Brosseau noted the issues around offering it at town-hosted occasions. In previous years, groups have requested the town allow them to have beer gardens during events such as Canada Day.
Brosseau believes it would require more volunteers, and would be a “whole other ball game” for the municipality.
Council agreed that provincial parks are drastically different than the ones located in Bonnyville. While Coun. Lorna Storoschuk believes allowing liquor consumption in campsites makes sense, she didn’t see any parks in town that could have people selling alcohol.
Sobolewski said the town would need to gather feedback from the community.
”It would definitely be an important avenue to explore, because a decision like this, you wouldn’t make it with just opinions and things like that. You would want to be grounded, and make sure it’s something that the community would accept and not just a vocal minority.”
Once the policing committee has offered recommendations, council will discuss the topic further.