Booze sites in Edmonton parks on hold for more study, councillors decide

Edmontonians will not be allowed to drink in public parks again this summer, after an attempt to make that happen was defeated at City Hall Monday amid objections from provincial health officials and some community members.

Coun. Michael Janz wanted to expand and make permanent a 2021 pilot project that tested legal drinking in 47 designated sites spread out in seven river valley parks.

"I think Edmontonians have proven they can be very responsible. The people who are not, we will continue to penalize just as we do now," Janz said.

But the city's Community Services Committee defeated his motion by a vote of 1-4.

Instead, councillors voted 4-1 to study the issue further and do more consultations for a report due in the fall.

A recent city survey found that 53 per cent of people liked the project, 12 per cent had a negative experience, and 34 per cent didn't take a stance on park drinking either way.

During the pilot, peace officers responded to 1,909 alcohol-related infractions in parks but wrote just two tickets. All of those infractions were for people drinking outside of the designated areas or after 9 p.m.

Mayor Amarjeet Sohi voted against Janz's motion, because he wants the city to do more community consultation about how best to make parks attractive for everyone.

"I think it's not about safety issues. It's not that there have been any concerns so far. I think it's more about do people feel comfortable using the park when they're concerned about alcohol consumption," Sohi said.

'ONE OF THE MORE RISKY PLACES FOR DRINKING'

Two members of the city's Community Services Advisory Board spoke against park drinking, primarily because of safety concerns.

"Knowing that alcohol could possibly be allowed in that location might actually reduce my sense of safety or ability to access the park and use it the way that I want to with my family," said Jameela Murji.

Several people from Alberta Health Services also asked councillors not to approve more alcohol sites, including a Provincial Addiction Prevention team member, who said parks should continue to be a "timeout from alcohol."

"Actually there is evidence that outdoor spaces are one of the more risky places for drinking and alcohol-related harms, for both the person that is drinking and the person that is not," Z’Anne Harvey-Jansen said.

Harvey-Jansen said Alberta already had concerning rates of alcohol use before the pandemic, but she believes the situation is worse now. Impaired driving, suicide, domestic violence and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder were some of the "secondhand harms" that she listed.

Her colleague suggested more places to drink could result in more people drinking more alcohol, similar to how drinking rates are higher where there are more liquor retailers.

"Within Alberta, we've seen a significant increase in the per-capita consumption of alcohol. So if we're wanting to reduce the risks associated with alcohol, we need to reduce that consumption," Dr. Brent Friesen with Alberta Health Services.

Janz acknowledged those concerns on a larger scale but questioned how relevant they were to the issue of park drinking sites.

"We are not going to fix the ills of liver cancer, addiction and alcoholism by restricting drinking on park benches," Janz said.

The report is due in the third quarter of this year, which ends on Sept. 30.