Canada Day fireworks cancelled at Toronto park after vendor pulls out last minute
Canada Day fireworks cancelled at Toronto park after vendor pulls out last minute
Canada Day fireworks cancelled at Toronto park after vendor pulls out last minute
One of Toronto’s Canada Day fireworks displays has been cancelled and another has been postponed after a vendor pulled out at the last minute.
According to the city, the vendor providing the pyrotechnics for Ashbridges Bay Park, Stan Wadlow Park and Milliken Park informed officials on Thursday they “did not intend to fulfill its contractual obligation to perform fireworks displays.”’
“City staff worked throughout the day and into the night to secure new vendors that could perform fireworks at the three locations. Companies across Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and in the U.S. were contacted,” staff said in a news release issued Friday morning.
“The City was able to secure the services of a new vendor to allow the Ashbridges Bay fireworks display to continue this evening. The vendor was also able to commit to a fireworks display on July 2 for Stan Wadlow Park.”
However, officials said the potential vendor for Miliken Park in Scarborough, located near Steeles Avenue and Middlefield Road, confirmed Friday morning they didn’t have the resources for the event. Those fireworks have now been cancelled.
“They just walked away from a contract we had with them,” Toronto Mayor John Tory said at a news conference ahead of the Canada Day parade. “City staff scrambled. They literally spoke with 20 different vendors.”
City officials said they have used the vendor, who they identified as David Whysall International Fireworks Inc., multiple times, including for the Victoria Day weekend. They say that staff were in contact with the company as recently as June 20 to confirm details for the Canada Day fireworks.
“We will, just so everybody knows, certainly hold this vendor responsible for any costs and damages that the city actually ends up incurring as a result of this very last minute notification that they’re not going to live up to their obligations,” city spokesperson Brad Ross told CP24 Friday morning.
Fireworks at Ashbridges Bay Park, Mel Lastman Square and Downsview Park will continue as planned tonight at 10 p.m.
“We do apologize to residents for some of these cancellations and rescheduling, but we’re hopeful that people will be able to enjoy Canada Day weekend, certainly tonight at Ashbridge’s Bay and Mel Lastman’s Square,” Ross said while adding that the city will “make it up to the residents of Scarborough in the near future.”
Ross said he hasn’t seen the fireworks displays planned for Friday night but he remains hopeful it will be a great show.
The city is also reminding residents that fireworks are allowed on private property without a permit until 11 p.m on Canada Day, however they are not allowed to be set off in city parks, beaches, balconies or parking lots.
Tory, for his part, urged residents heading out into the city to watch the firework displays to do so respectfully—making reference to the Victoria Day long weekend in which two people were shot, one person was stabbed, two others were robbed at gunpoint and seven police officers were injured after being struck by multiple fireworks.
“It was a very small group of people, you know hooligans really, on Victoria Day that weekend that ruined it for everyone,” he said. “They engaged in very reckless behaviour, it could have resulted in somebody literally dying because they were shooting fireworks at each other and police officers and there’s just no excuse for that.”
"It's just not the kind of behaviour that we believe in in the City of Toronto."
American actor Anne Heche will be taken of life support on Sunday, nine days after suffering severe injuries in a fiery car crash, as a compatible person was found to receive her donated organs, a spokesperson said.
FBI testing of the gun used in the fatal shooting on the movie set of 'Rust' found that the weapon handled by actor Alec Baldwin could not be fired without pulling the trigger while the gun was cocked, according to a newly released forensics report.
Republicans stepped up calls on Sunday for the release of an FBI affidavit showing the underlying justification for its seizure of documents at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home.
A new study is offering a dire prediction for the U.S. state of California, where scientists say catastrophic flooding could become twice as likely in the future due to the effects of climate change.
A new study suggests that Antarctica’s ice shelves may be melting faster than previously believed, which is causing sea levels to rise at a more rapid pace and accelerating the dangers of climate change.
A fire ripped through a packed Coptic Orthodox church during morning services in Egypt's capital on Sunday, quickly filling it with thick black smoke and killing 41 worshippers, including at least 15 children.
Authorities in Norway said Sunday they have euthanized a walrus that had drawn crowds of spectators in the Oslo Fjord after concluding that it posed a risk to humans.
Police arrested three Arizona parents, shocking two of them with stun guns, as they tried to force their way into a school that police locked down Friday after an armed man was seen trying to get on campus, authorities said.
After Indian-born British novelist Salman Rushdie was attacked during a writing conference in western New York on Friday, current and former Canadian politicians are weighing in on what such attacks mean for freedom of expression and thought.
Quebec's new language law has dozens of municipalities in the province shoring up their bilingual status, with few considering giving up the right to serve their citizens in both English and French.
Voters interested in the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) may be disappointed by its platform, announced Sunday in Drummondville, as it is silent on many issues and vague on many others.
Multiple police agencies – including the London Police Service -- are looking for a fugitive with ties to London and the GTA who is wanted on multiple alleged weapons charges.
A string of pickup truck thefts using relay and reprogramming technology, a crash at a busy Kitchener roundabout, and a big golf shot for a big price round out the top stories of the week.
It was a sea of people wearing green and white at the James Jerome Sports Complex Sunday morning as Sudburians gathered to mark Pakistan Independence Day. This is the 75th anniversary of the country's independence from British colonial rule.
The Flour Mill Community Farm’s 6th annual Open Farm is an opportunity for the community to tour the space, sample some of the farm’s produce and enjoy local musical entertainment live.
A five-kilometre section of the Queensway is expected to reopen in time for the Monday morning commute, after the busy highway was closed over the weekend for construction.
A LaSalle, Ont., resident says he’s not happy with how long it took for Essex Powerlines to provide details on a recent outage that left nearly 1,000 properties in LaSalle without power.
A diving accident at 14-years-old left Brian Parker paralyzed from the chest down. Now at age 49, he's without the person who was caring for him full-time until just last week, after his 68-year-old mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The German government on Friday issued a statement confirming the agreement will be signed Aug. 23 in Stephenville, where a Newfoundland based company plans to build a zero-emission plant that will use wind energy to produce hydrogen for export.
Jason Kenney and United Conservative Party leadership hopeful Danielle Smith traded words about her proposed sovereignty act this weekend, with Smith saying the premier should not interfere in the contest.
A B.C. girl is making her voice acting debut in a new animated Netflix series, saying she's excited that they chose her to bring the spunky, South Asian lead to life.
Jason Kenney and United Conservative Party leadership hopeful Danielle Smith traded words about her proposed sovereignty act this weekend, with Smith saying the premier should not interfere in the contest.
