Booze in city parks returns for debate
A question of equity in Toronto versus possible breach of distance rules
Pandemic restrictions have brought a lot of the city’s inequality to light, making it clear who’s equipped by circumstance to weather them best.
That’s prompted one Toronto city councillor this week to revive the debate over drinking alcohol in public parks.
Coun. Josh Matlow (Ward 12) said the pandemic has turned it into an equity issue. With patios closed, Torontonians without the privilege of a backyard or a balcony must now choose between drinking and getting fresh air.
Going to a park and trying to do both incurs a $300 fine, “despite the fact it has no adverse effect on anyone else,” he said.
If Matlow’s new motion is successful, Torontonians may soon be able to drink in parks, a practice long enjoyed throughout Europe, Oceania and Asia, as well as Quebec and more recently Alberta and Vancouver.
Some, however, worry this isn’t the time to relax the laws, fearing social-distancing rules and judgment-altering drugs won’t make a good cocktail.
At a news briefing Monday, Mayor John Tory, who said he’s been “positively disposed” to a review of outdoor drinking for years, said he isn’t sure now is the time to discuss it.
“I think it’s something that’s time will come,” he said. “But at the moment, my exclusive focus is on the pandemic and trying to put it behind us so we can get back to being in parks, let alone what we do when we get there.”
If approved by the infrastructure and environment committee at the end of April, Matlow’s motion would allow Toronto residents to consume beverages with less than 15 per cent alcohol in public parks and beaches with washrooms from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week, beginning May 21.
This would be a pilot project, lasting only until Halloween, but Matlow hopes it will continue beyond that, if results are positive.
“Time has come for this to happen,” Matlow told the Star. “So many cities around the world — London, Paris, Sydney, Montreal — allow adults to have drinks together outdoors. I think a lot of people in those cities look at us and wonder why we’re still debating it.”
Matlow pointed to a similar initiative to allow drinking in parks in the city of North Vancouver, approved last summer, and another proposal for Vancouver passed in February as further examples of Toronto lagging behind.
“It’s absurd for the city to use its limited bylaw enforcement resources to go fine a couple sitting on a blanket having a picnic in a park with a glass of wine,” said Matlow.
It’s also a social justice issue to Matlow and community members he’s spoken with. He said Black, Indigenous and people of colour consistently tell him they are unfairly singled out by police and are more likely to get fined for public drinking than white people are — even when committing the same offence at the same location in front of the same officer.
In situations like that, white people will often get warnings and Black people will get tickets, Matlow said.
Public drunkenness will remain prohibited under Ontario laws, so having a few too many would still get you carted off.