Fireworks bylaw passes allowing backyard shows during Diwali and Chinese Lunar New Year

There were claps from the gallery of London, Ont. city council on Tuesday after city politicians voted in favour of an updated fireworks bylaw that would allow backyard fireworks for the Chinese Lunar New Year and Diwali.

Councillors voted 11-3 in favour of the change, which adds the two events to a list of days when backyard fireworks will be permitted in the city between dusk and 11 p.m., alongside Canada Day and Victoria Day.

"It feels amazing. It finally feels like we're putting this thing to rest," said Anand Soni, who attended the meeting as a member of the local advocacy organization, Hindu Legacy Group.

Diwali is a religious tradition "steeped in thousands of years of history," and a backyard firework ban "would have taken away something really, really major for us," he said.

"It's part and parcel. Food and fireworks. It's part and parcel of Diwali. It's part and parcel of a lot of different things we do," Soni said. 

Community members filled the council gallery to show their support for add the additional days, which came two weeks after the Community and Protective Services Committee (CAPS) voted 3-2 to remove the days from the draft bylaw on March 18.

Councillors Hadleigh McAlister, David Ferreira, and Sam Trosow voted to remove them during the CAPS meeting, prompting pushback from the community, and other members of city council, including Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis and Ward 8 Coun. Steve Lehman.

In a letter to council, Lewis and Lehman charged that the committee's decision was "in direct opposition to the will of council," noting council had directed city staff last summer to draft a new bylaw that explicitly included Diwali and the Lunar New Year.

A motion tabled by the pair on Tuesday to put Diwali and the Lunar New Year back into the bylaw passed with a vote of 12-2, with Couns. Ferreria and Trosow opposed. McAlister was absent from the meeting.

"My concern is when we make a council directive, whether you agree with it or you don't agree with it, we should support the will of council," Lehman said.

"Communities have been planning based on that decision from council. To try to change that, in my opinion, by excluding the specific days that were added in, is of concern."

Ferreira told council he was concerned about safety, and added that he voted the way he did because he was given the option to.

"If I'm given the option to vote for something, I'm going to vote with how I should be voting," Ferreira said.