Ottawa Bluesfest organizers expressed some initial concern about a plan to launch fireworks on opening night without telling the public but ultimately decided to go along with the plan, documents show. After the Canada Day fireworks show was cancelled on July 1 due to a record-breaking rainstorm, the Ministry of Canadian Heritage developed a plan to launch the fireworks on July 9 to coincide with the opening night of Bluesfest. Officials said launching the fireworks was a safer plan than individually disarming the shells, which had already been primed in anticipation of Canada Day. The fireworks were launched just before 11 p.m. on July 9, taking many residents by surprise. Some Ottawa city councillors and a local MPP criticized the decision not to advertise the fireworks show in advance, but city officials said the decision was made out of an abundance of caution and to avoid excessive crowds. According to documents obtained through a freedom of information request, Ottawa Bluesfest CEO Mark Monahan told the city’s special events advisory team (SEAT) that he wanted to inform people the afternoon before gates opened that there would be a fireworks display. “Acting responsibly, we cannot set off a large fireworks display without informing the public. This would open up liability and reputational risk that affects the entire organization,” he wrote in an email the morning of July 9. “To alleviate your concerns, we will not refer to them as ‘Canada Day’ fireworks but as a celebration of the 200th anniversary [of Ottawa] and the opening night of Bluesfest.” In an email to CTV News Ottawa, Monahan said he thinks the fireworks should have been advertised. “Our concerns were mainly around the element of surprising residents and potentially causing alarm as the fireworks display was substantial and would be unexpected,” he wrote. “We believe it should have been announced, and residents should have been allowed to enjoy the display.” Bluesfest planned to inform ticketholders that there would be “an epic opening night fireworks display.” The note would have been sent to the daily show email on Thursday morning to ticket purchasers, and not to the entire Bluesfest mailing list, organizers said. City staff, however, requested the fireworks not be promoted in advance. “Based on the anticipated attendance and the nature of the event, SEAT’s assessment is that advance promotion could contribute to larger, less predictable crowds and increase public safety risks,” Bluesfest was told. “Instead, if desired, a brief announcement can be made from the stage at the beginning of the evening programming to advise attendees that a fireworks display is planned following the conclusion of the event. This approach provides notice to those already on site while avoiding broader public promotion.” Bluesfest ultimately agreed. The head of the City of Ottawa’s Emergency and Protective Services apologized for the unannounced display a few days later, saying it clearly affected people but that the decision was made with public safety in mind. “It’s very clear to me that it had impacts on the community and for that, I’m extremely sorry for that experience that those residents felt,” Ryan Perrault said on July 13, “and that’s something that we’re going to have to take away and look at that as part of our processes.” Correspondence with members of the special events advisory team showed staff were concerned about potential crowding on public roadways, bridges, pathways, and viewing areas and increased pressure on emergency services, transit, policing, and crowd management resources. Extra policing cost $12,000 Additional police resources were requested for July 9. According to the obtained documents, police deployed several officers, five vehicles, and one boat to cover security around Bluesfest and Lemieux Island, where the fireworks were launched from. An invoice included in the documents said the cost for a minimum four-hour deployment was $12,523.07. Correspondence said the costs were part of the postponed Canada Day operations and should fall within the agreement between the city and Canadian Heritage. Documents say the policing requirements for a much larger footprint, had the public been informed of the fireworks, would have been unfeasible. Canada Day programming is planned months in advance and requires “extensive crowd management infrastructure, and substantial emergency response resources,” according to city staff. Police said they would not have the same level of operational flexibility and staffing on July 9 compared with Canada Day, and that promotion of the fireworks would “create additional risks that cannot be adequately mitigated with available resources and planning timelines.” Staff also said there was insufficient time to ramp up OC Transpo service to Canada Day levels in the event of larger crowds. There were some concerns about impacts with the noise bylaw, as the fireworks were set to go off just before 11 p.m. Ottawa Bylaw said it received 38 complaints after the fireworks went off.
