Queen’s student street parties cause major concern for Kingston emergency services

Thousands of students have arrived in Kingston for the new school year which has brought new challenges for emergency response personnel.

During the Labour Day long weekend, University Avenue played host to a party that saw hundreds of students grouped together in the middle of the road causing vehicles to reroute.

Ambulances and city buses were stopped from proceeding through the crowds, leaving the drivers to find a way around them.

“Our job as paramedics is to ensure that we can help those who are in need of medical attention as quickly as possible, but we cannot do our job when people get in the way of someones else’s well-being,” said Frontenac paramedic Marc Goudie.

The City of Kingston and Kingston Transit faced a similar issue as the paramedics when they attempted to proceed down their regular route.

The buses were rerouted due to the mass crowds of students, and buses will continue to take a different route after 9 p.m. each day until further notice, said Jeremy Dacosta, director of transit for the City of Kingston.

The Kingston police told Global News that there were 115 charges laid for a litany of offences such as open liquor, consume liquor, under 19 years of age, intoxicated in public, Highway Traffic Act, and nuisance bylaw.

All of the charges were laid under the University District Safety Initiative, meaning that the offenders will not have the option to pay a fine, but will be required to appear in court and held accountable for their actions, said Kingston police. Also, 16 offenders were issued summons to appear in court for having open liquor, said police.

In addition to the Labour Day weekend parties, the police have released a warning that alcohol is not permitted at Breakwater Park at any time.