Morinville residents would be able to buy fireworks year-round without a permit under a revised bylaw set to reach town council next month.
Morinville town council reviewed proposed changes to the fire services bylaw during committee of the whole Feb. 15.
Morinville does not currently allow anyone but certified pyrotechnicians to buy, sell, store, or launch fireworks within its borders.
In January, administration tabled amendments which, if passed, would let businesses get permits to sell fireworks but also require residents to get permits to buy and launch them. The amendments would also restrict fireworks sales to 10 days prior to and on specific holidays (Victoria Day, the Sunday after Canada Day, Heritage Day, Labour Day, New Year’s Day, and other dates specified by council).
The Morinville and District Chamber of Commerce and several town councillors criticized the amendments as too restrictive.
Perry Logan, executive director of the Canadian National Fireworks Association, told council Feb. 15 that it is impractical to try and track every fireworks purchase through permits, as most stores sell thousands of fireworks each year.
“The bylaw that has been put forward to you will not work,” he said, and no Canadian community he knows of that bans local fireworks uses required permits to purchase them.
Logan said the town could use the federal Explosives Act to allow residents to buy fireworks but not launch them in town. He recommended the town require all fireworks vendors to be certified by his group (which runs free education programs on fireworks safety) and to make vendors responsible for tracking fireworks sales. Morinville could also ban sales during certain times of the year, such as during fire bans, and his group could alert retailers to any such bans.
Fire Chief Brad Boddez proposed new revisions to the bylaw in response to these criticisms.
The new revisions drop the requirement for people to have a permit to buy, possess, or handle fireworks in town and allow fireworks to be sold and launched year-round with a permit. Fireworks permit holders and consumers would still have to follow all provincial and federal laws relating to fireworks, including the Explosives Act. The revisions exclude sparklers from the definition of low-hazard consumer fireworks, which in an email Boddez said means they could be bought, sold, stored, and lit in Morinville without a permit under the revised law.
The revisions also propose steeper penalties. Unsafe fireworks storage would carry a $250 fine instead of $100, while selling fireworks without a permit would result in a $1,000 fine instead of $500. The revisions establish a new $500 fine for selling fireworks to anyone under the age of 18 and a $1,000 fine for discharging fireworks during a fire ban.
Outgoing town chief administrative officer Stephane Labonne advised council to consider an explicit ban on fireworks sales during a fire ban but acknowledged this could be difficult as the town and Sturgeon County (which surrounds Morinville) do not co-ordinate fire bans.
The revised bylaw returns for second reading March 8.
