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Calgary pops the top on alcohol in parks pilot project

Good, bad, or don't care?

  • Good

    Votes: 7 77.8%

  • Bad

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Don't care

    Votes: 2 22.2%
  • Total voters
    9
Surrealplaces

Surrealplaces

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livewirecalgary.com

Calgary pops the top on alcohol in parks pilot project - LiveWire Calgary

Calgary will open up 30 initial spots for citizens to enjoy a beverage in a park, as details on a long-awaited pilot project were rolled out. The city said the spots are available for booking during the June 1 to Sept. 7 pilot project period. The distribution of parks is relatively equal across...
livewirecalgary.com livewirecalgary.com
 
Book a picnic table in a park for a two hour window? That's bizarre. No, we'll show up with a blanket or our folding chairs and sit where the best sun or shade, wind protection, proximity away from annoying people, and space for kids to play etc.
 
While it is a step in the right direction, this is so typical of North American society. We can only have permission to do this if it is planned and controlled. So much for a spontaneous lunch on a blanket anywhere in the park... with a bottle of wine. That would still be in violation of the law.
Too much freedom would lead to mass drunken parties everywhere, I guess. Unlike almost any other civilized country in the world, we can't be trusted by our governments to manage alcohol consumption in public.
 
I say just walk downtown with a beer in the hand until public drinking is normalized. Bums do it all the time.
 
Personally I wish they would let it be allowed at any park or park bench at any time, and treat it as a pilot project. If nobody abuses it, it stays, other wise it goes away or gores to a more controlled setup.
 
Everyone under 35 does it at least several times a month anyways… probably most over 35 too. Now they're just making you sign up for it. Whack. Just decriminalize it.
 
Typical City of Calgary - take a good idea and bastardize it with idiotic regulations.

During COVID I've been going for wine walks with friends around the neighbourhood. There's absolutely no reason to not allow this.
 
I'm happy to blame Council for the timidity and pilot-project-itis on this one. I'm sure that the parks department isn't champing at the bit to create a bunch more regulatory and organizational headache for themselves. I wonder how much of an impact AHS had with their Medical Officer's 22 page letter against alcohol in parks (mostly against all alcohol anywhere). While they aren't wrong, I wonder why they haven't shown up to any council debate over road infrastructure with a 30 page letter about the death toll from roads.
 
ByeByeBaby said:
I'm happy to blame Council for the timidity and pilot-project-itis on this one. I'm sure that the parks department isn't champing at the bit to create a bunch more regulatory and organizational headache for themselves. I wonder how much of an impact AHS had with their Medical Officer's 22 page letter against alcohol in parks (mostly against all alcohol anywhere). While they aren't wrong, I wonder why they haven't shown up to any council debate over road infrastructure with a 30 page letter about the death toll from roads.
Click to expand...
I agree. Seems like a classic dumb middle ground brought to you by the democratic process that has tasked regulators to try to balance two incompatible ideas - between a "how dare you, won't someone think of the children and the immorality of drinking" to "we have hardly ever enforced or had an issue with regular park drinking that has occurred for as long as we have parks". It's an impossible to reconcile those positions through regulation in a way that makes sense and both groups are happy - there isn't an obvious middle ground between such a binary political question.

My take is that this whole weird pilot approach is largely performative of just going through the paces. Effectively city administration is saying politely: "neither of your two positions is able to defeat the other so you asked for a dumb pilot project middle ground that doesn't make sense and this is the best we can do. See you in a year and we can get rid of all this nonsense." Importantly, this statement can get the support of a few people that hate drinking in parks as well as they have a chance to say no later too.

It is funny how we silo problems and have situations where AHS chose to get involved in this one and not others. Would be great for a medical comment on car-dependent lifestyles leading to obesity, traffic designs deaths, the health risks of chronic homelessness, defending social services from cuts to assist in societal mental and physical health issues etc.
 
Unless I'm missing something, it's kinda weird that there's nothing in the SW beyond Glenmore Trail, whereas the tables in the other quadrants go to further flung neighbourhoods.
 
The motion passed 12-2; voting against were Farkas and Colley-Urquhart; their wards match the gap in the availability almost exactly.* Your city councilor matters.

* technically, there are 2 in Farkas' ward; in Elbow and Lindsay parks; both within a few hundred metres of the Ward 8 / 11 boundary and which will be in ward 8 next election.
 
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