As has been well covered in the media, a couple of weeks ago City Council opted to allow the consumption of alcohol in parks on pilot basis this year from July 1 to October 30. Subject to rules about proximity to amenities such as play structures, sports fields and the like, the personal consumption of alcohol would no longer be prohibited between 11 am – 9 pm in designated parks. It’s been essentially left up to city councillors to request that a pilot be undertaken in any, all or none of their ward’s parks.
In my past couple of newsletters and in the press, I’ve asked for your feedback on whether we should remove the ban on alcohol consumption in any of our parks and conveyed that I’d like to try it in at least one of our spaces. I’d floated Laroche, Champlain and Parkdale parks as potential pilots. The former two have lots of buffer space to the amenities, and Parkdale already sees lots of surreptitious consumption by parents, local residents and others on beautiful summer evenings especially on night market nights.
The feedback I’ve gotten overall and to those suggestions in particular has been mixed. I’ve read it all and while I haven’t done a count it’s clear that there’s significant support (as well as opposition) to removing the prohibition on the consumption of alcohol in Champlain Park, very significant opposition to doing the same in Laroche Park, and it’s difficult to discern whether there’s any trend with respect to Parkdale. Other parks were suggested, though none with any significant number of mentions. Of course, there were also notes of blanket opposition to continuing any prohibitions or allowing any consumption.
I’m willing at this point to ask that Champlain Park be a pilot for the removal of the prohibition on the consumption of alcohol.
Champlain Park strikes me as a low-stakes way to see how this will work. I’ll say that I’m reasonably confident that permitting the consumption of alcohol in the park is unlikely to increase its occurrence. I’m quite certain that nearby residents are already enjoying alcoholic beverages responsibly in the park today. The difference, I think, will be that an activity that’s already largely accepted will no longer be theoretically prohibited. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me that we have a by-law on the books that’s not enforced.
I’m not particularly concerned that the park will become a destination for drinking. I’ve tried to imagine a scenario in which people make drinking the focus of an excursion to Champlain Park and simply can’t. I think there may be some people in the nearby apartment towers who will walk or bike down to Champlain instead of a different park if they want to socialize in a sunny green spot and have a beer or two, but I don’t think there will be much of a change in how people use the park today. Any event that requires a park booking or permit would continue to require a permit from AGCO in order to have alcohol on site. If things go sideways, I’ve got the power to end the pilot quickly.
There is, as I read the by-law as passed by Council, no provision for the continuation of the pilot past this year, so we’ll have lots of time to determine whether to end it, continue it or expand it to other parks this fall.
I’ve had some folks ask me about the specifics. The policy as adopted by Council had a somewhat complicated path. You can read the recommendation (along with analysis) that staff made in the original report here, including the rules about where in the park the consumption of alcohol would not be permitted. That report recommended two options for proceeding. By way of motion at committee that was then carried by Council, we chose to proceed with just a pilot for this year, as follows:
That Option 1, at page 11 of the report, be amended to read as follows:
Option 1: Apply the criteria prescribed in this by-law to identify parks where personal consumption can be allowed from July 1 to October 31, 2025, to allow the Councillor in each ward to work in consultation with the General Manager and their communities to identify eligible parks and decide on designating them, or not, to permit personal consumption of alcohol;
That Council direct staff to implement Option 1 as amended.