Party on: Councillors put off rave moratorium

Rave on, Edmonton.

A city council committee decided Wednesday not to go ahead with moratorium on the dance events proposed by police, at least for now.

“So, we can continue to party,” Ward 6 Coun. Scott McKeen told a packed room. “We got a really good response from the industry and from passionate enthusiasts today to tell us — and I think remind us, too — that we were maybe looking too closely at one element in our entertainment sector.”

The community and public services committee decided to wait for an Oct. 3 preliminary report from administration on harm reduction strategies and other safety plans that can be implemented for the events. The final report, based on city meetings with stakeholders, is to come in 2019.

Police urged the moratorium after a report to a city committee revealed 18 patients were treated on scene for drug-related illnesses and 11 others were hospitalized at a recent event.

Earlier Wednesday, Shelby Young of Indigo Harm Reduction Services said she found it extremely disheartening that the city was adopting a prohibition-like stance toward electronic dance parties and raves.

McKeen said the city and community need to recognize that prohibition does not work.

“People are going to get intoxicated in some context and we can’t change that. As much as we don’t want people to use illicit drugs, they are going to. And so we want to make sure they are well-informed of the perils of doing so, especially mixing it with alcohol.”

Overdoses and mixing illicit substances is seen not just at raves, but also on Whyte Avenue or Jasper Avenue at 2 a.m., Young said.

McKeen said the committee is asking for numbers on public intoxication, drug-related incidents and annual updates so they can be tracked.

Viet Nguyen of Boodang Music Canada said for the past week, various organizers have been speaking with other cities and other organizations on how these events can be made safer.

“One of the solutions other cities told us is that they have better on-site medical,” he said. “We have medics and we have paramedics at our events, but what we don’t have is on-site physicians and nurses to take that impact off city services. They can remedy symptoms quicker, on site, and send patients on their way.”

He said it wasn’t done before because it wasn’t something organizers felt was needed, but they will now work more closely with Indigo Harm Reduction Services.

The Edmonton Police Service wanted a three-to-four-month pause on all electronic dance music events so they could step back, review and create safe practices.

Police Staff Sgt. Troy Carriere said the motion at the committee accomplished what first responders wanted.

Since the last discussion on raves in the early 2000s, there’s been some complacency from organizers and officials, he said.

“Complacency is going to lead to something tragic happening and that was a concern to us,” he said.