Saskatoon considering fireworks on Lunar New Year and Diwali holidays

The City of Saskatoon is considering adding Lunar New Year and Diwali to the days residents are allowed to fire off fireworks without a permit. This was discussed during the city council committee meeting on Tuesday.

With the support of Coun. Bev Dubois and Mayor Charlie Clark, the city is considering the move, saying that fireworks are an integral part of these two holidays.

Lunar New Year is the biggest holiday in the world, with more than 1.6 billion people celebrating the holiday, mainly in China and Southeast Asia. Fireworks are used to bring good luck for the next year.

Diwali is the Hindu festival of light celebrated in India and other Southeast Asian countries. The fireworks are believed to scare away bad spirits.

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In a report to city council that was presented on Tuesday, the Saskatoon Fire Department (SFD) does not recommend adding the religious celebrations, as commercial fireworks pose a safety risk. The SFD even went as far as recommending removing the permit exemptions for the existing holidays of Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day and New Year’s. This would make commercially sold fireworks illegal within city premises.

Aleem Kanji, chief advocacy officer of the Canadian National Fireworks Association, pushed back against this, saying that using a permitting system has proven ineffective and expensive in Alberta.

“The permit system was ineffective, expensive and unable to keep up with requests. Many residents ended up ignoring the system altogether and Alberta got rid of the system quickly,” Kanji said during the meeting.

John Adria of Uncle John’s Fireworks echoed that sentiment and added that Canadian consumer fireworks are safer than most candles used in households.

“Canadian consumer fireworks are some of the safest around. It is the illegal American fireworks, that people will resort to, that we should look out for. Introducing permitting will push many to use those.”

Currently, fireworks are only allowed outside of the before-mentioned four holidays if a city permit is issued. These can only be obtained by professional event planners. They are also the only ones permitted to use more powerful and dangerous fireworks.

City council will vote on the motion to allow fireworks on Lunar New Year and Diwali during the next meeting on Aug. 30.