MP calls for Calgary to roll back decision to replace Canada Day fireworks finale

A Calgary MP is calling for a large-scale fireworks display to be reinstated for Canada Day after a city committee moved to replace the show due to cultural and environmental concerns. 

Last week, the city said it was replacing the big fireworks display with a pyrotechnic show at Fort Calgary. Reasons cited for the change included sensitivities related to Truth and Reconciliation, the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Immigration Act, and upsetting the city's animals and wildlife. 

The response to the change, from many Calgarians, was frustration. As of Wednesday, an online petition to bring back the fireworks from the group Common Sense Calgary had garnered more than 9,000 signatures. 

Also on Tuesday, MP Michelle Rempel Garner, who represents Calgary Nose Hill, tweeted a statement calling for the city to reverse its decision. She said that celebrating what Canada is today can be done while also acknowledging reconciliation and the longstanding impacts of racism. 

Mayor Jyoti Gondek took questions on the controversy Tuesday, defending the city's arts and culture team, which made the decision to alter the Canada Day festivities. 

She noted that any change to revert the plans back to a large-scale fireworks wouldn't come from council, as it wasn't their call in the first place. 

"I would encourage everyone to get to know a little bit more about what the celebration is about," Gondek told reporters. "Because that's the point, how are we celebrating Canada Day? There are so many components this year. The team has done some good work." 

When asked if enough Calgarians were engaged prior to the city's decision, the mayor said that she thought people would be "quite happy" with the pyrotechnics display at Fort Calgary. 

She added that there would be 10 full days of fireworks for Calgarians to enjoy during the Stampede, which starts days later, on July 7.

Earlier this week, Coun. Kourtney Penner, Ward 11, responded to the online petition calling for the city to bring back fireworks, saying that reversing the decision would be "upholding colonialism and racism." 

Reimagining Canada Day 

In recent years, many communities have reimagined Canada Day celebrations to recognize Indigenous people, as the country continues to reckon with its legacy following the discovery of unmarked graves at former residential schools.

Michelle Robinson, host of the Native Calgarian podcast and a Sahtu-Dene Indigenous activist, said she feels the move from the city is hollow without meaningful action involving Indigenous people. 

"It sounds like the same old, same old," she said.

"I don't think that they understand their role in reconciliation, and until they start doing some of that work and start doing some of that anti-racism work, we're not going to see much meaningful change from them." 

She pointed to little implementation of the White Goose Flying report and a lack of an assessment of violence against Indigenous women.

Chinese Exclusion Act

On July 1, 1923, the Chinese Immigration Act, or "Chinese Exclusion Act," was passed. The law stopped all Chinese immigration into Canada and divided hundreds of families for years. It was repealed in 1946.

Coun. Terry Wong, who represents Ward 7, said the city's Chinese community will observe the centennial anniversary of the act, which left a legacy of systemic barriers and persisting biases. 

"We are observing both the trauma of the [Chinese] Immigration Act and also the rise of the Chinese community and the contributions they've made to Calgary over the last 100 years." 

"With or without fireworks, we will do an observance." 

No pyrotechnics in Banff

Banff, which has used a pyrotechnics display rather than traditional fireworks since 2018 to decrease noise impacts on wildlife, pets and people in the park, will not have a pyrotechnics show this year, according to its website. 

"Even though the use of pyrotechnics reduced noise because there is no secondary explosion and the low altitude reduced the distance of sound travel, the shows still produced noise, bright flashes, smoke at crowd level and litter that had to be carefully recovered."