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Trinity Bellwoods Park to face alcohol crackdown

picard102:

Which laws should we ignore then?

While I understand the spirit of your argument (i.e. total compliance with the law), the reality is very different - we as a society routinely ignore and demand only token compliance with legislation around transportation safety to far greater consequences than consumption of alcohol in parkland. Clearly as a society we have already tacitly chosen what laws to ignore through our asymmetrical enforcement.

In any case, perhaps a better piece of legislation would prohibit disruptive behaviour as a result of inebriation in parks.

AoD
 
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One of the conditions of High Park being transferred to the city over a century ago was to ban the sale and consumption of alcohol there.

Technically speaking, I thought this historical prohibition applied only to the section of High Park that belonged to Howard, that he transferred to the city. The sections that came from Chapman (and Ridout?) were added after the original formation of the park. So you could drink in those sections and only be in contravention of the 'modern' municipal code. (Chapter 608,8 (Parks, Alchohol))

Were Howard's conditions later extended to apply to the entire park?
 
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Technically speaking, I thought this historical prohibition applied only to the section of High Park that belonged to Howard, that he transferred to the city. The sections that came from Chapman (and Ridout?) were added after the original formation of the park. So you could drink in those sections and only be in contravention of the 'modern' municipal code. (Chapter 608,8 (Parks, Alchohol))

Were Howard's conditions later extended to apply to the entire park?

Yes they were. The Grenadier Café is non-licensed.

I am teetotal by the way.
 
Technically speaking, I thought this historical prohibition applied only to the section of High Park that belonged to Howard, that he transferred to the city. The sections that came from Chapman (and Ridout?) were added after the original formation of the park. So you could drink in those sections and only be in contravention of the 'modern' municipal code. (Chapter 608,8 (Parks, Alchohol))

Were Howard's conditions later extended to apply to the entire park?

To build The Queensway across the bottom of High Park, the city lawyers had to get permission from John Howard's distant relatives (John & his wife had no children of their own), who lived in Great Britain. So the city could get around the alcohol prohibition by asking distant relatives of John Howard, again.
 
http://torontoist.com/2013/07/trini...ng-produces-plenty-of-ideas-few-firm-answers/

Also, this amazing quote from the Toronto Star's story:

Karen Harrison lives near Trinity Bellwoods Park, but doesn’t dare step foot in it. She’s too afraid.

“A trip to the park is not a pleasurable thing anymore,†said the 56-year-old. “It’s a question of ‘Am I going to step on a beer bottle? Am I going to get wounded? Is somebody going to be smoking pot and am I going to have to inhale it?’ â€

[video=youtube;Qh2sWSVRrmo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh2sWSVRrmo[/video]
 
S&M:

Oh gawd, I can see a beer bottle and I am so afraid that I will step on something despite having seen it! Wee!

That said, from the body of the article it does seem that they need to deal with unruly behaviour - alcohol use in general is just the red herring.

AoD
 
If I see a beer bottle, I pick it up for the deposit. If I see a lot of beer bottles, I will see the kids picking them for cash.

If I see a broken bottle (any bottle), I treat it like any other piece of litter and there's a litter container nearby. What do you do if you see litter?
 
WK Lis:

Gawd forbid, I am *just* a user of the parks - I should never, ever get my own hands dirty and help to do what I can to keep it clean!

*this same issue can be found on public transit re: litter as well - particularly newspapers.

AoD
 
On the waterfront near my place the stuff left behind is mainly beer bottles. Curiously, there is very little other trash, except in the spots where the beer bottles are.

At least in this park, it seems most people pick up after themselves, except the drinkers.

And yes, sometimes those beer bottles are broken, which is a safety hazard.
 
On the waterfront near my place the stuff left behind is mainly cigarette butts and coffee cups. There are hundreds or thousands of cigarette butts scattered throughout most Toronto parks. Our sidewalks are also plastered with gum, and our posts with illegal posters.

That's not to say there aren't morons who leave beer bottles behind and who, as far as I'm concerned, should be given very steep fines... but the culture of treating our public realm with disdain is far from exclusive to public drinkers.

In fact, I know that some people who drink in parks or toilets in spots hidden from the public are often reluctant to carry the can or bottle out of the cubicle or hiding place out of fear of reprisal.
 

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