Report
to/Rapport au:
Transportation and Transit
Committee/
Comité des transports et des services de
transport en commun
and Council/et au
Conseil
22 April 2002/le 22 avril 2002
Submitted by/Soumis par: R.T. Leclair, General Manager/Directeur
général
Transportation,
Utilities and Public Works/
Transport, services et travaux publics
Contact/Personne ressource: Michael J. Flainek, P. Eng.,
Director/Directeur
Traffic and Parking Operations Branch/
Circulation et Stationnement
580-2424, extension 26882,
Michael.Flainek@city.ottawa.on.ca
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Ref
N°: ACS2002-TUP-TRF-0010
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SUBJECT: FÊTE-CARIBE PARADE
OBJET: DÉFILÉ DE LA FÊTE-CARIBE
REPORT RECOMMENDATION
That the Transportation and Transit Committee approve that Council’s
“Two Strike Rule” be applied against the Fête-Caribe organization, thereby
delaying the next edition of the annual parade on City streets until August
2003.
RECOMMANDATION DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité des transports et des services de
transport en commun accepte l’application de la « règle des deux
fautes » contre les organisateurs de la Fête-Caribe, ce qui aura pour
effet de reporter le prochain défilé dans les rues de la ville au mois d’août
2003.
BACKGROUND
In keeping with Council approved policy, staff
advised organizers of the 2002 Fête-Caribe Parade, by letter dated March 25,
2002 (Annex A), that a parade permit would not be issued for 2002. The organization is appealing this decision
requiring consideration by the Transportation and Transit Committee. Fête-Caribe’s appeal letter is attached as
Annex B.
DISCUSSION
On February 25th 1998, the former Regional
Council approved a comprehensive Special Events Policy which included a penalty
provision called the “Two Strike Rule”.
The “Two Strike Rule” gives an event organizer a second chance after a
situation of non-compliance with permit conditions. Should a second violation occur, the policy provides that the
event not be permitted on City streets the next time it would typically be
staged (i.e. the following year in the case of an annual event such as the
Fête-Caribe Parade). This policy was
adopted by the new City Council on July 25th 2001.
The Fête-Caribe organization
incurred a first strike following the 1998 Fête-Caribe Parade, attached as
Annex C, due to non-compliance with several conditions set out in the Special
Event Permit. Included in the letter
that assigned the strike in 1998 was an explanation of the Council approved
“Two Strike Rule” and the implications, should a second strike be assigned.
While
there were still problems with the parade in 1999, there were also encouraging
signs of improvement. However, those
indications failed to materialize in the parade of 2000. In fairness to Fête-Caribe though, the City
did not react that year as the parade route had never been used before and
therefore, the extent of blame attributable to the organization was unclear.
But, in 2001, the parade followed
the same route as it did in 2000 and there were far more problems associated
with it. It started approximately 90
minutes late and lacked coordination.
In fact, the last float departed the launch site so late that Police
were required to escort it via an alternate route, so it could catch up with
the rest of the parade. The late start
coupled with the refusal of some participants to leave the roadway following
the parade, required that Laurier Avenue between Nicholas Street and Elgin
Street remain closed for three hours longer than planned.
The five-hour time limit
stipulated in the 2001 parade permit was more than ample when compared to: (a)
the four hours the Fête-Caribe Parade was allotted in 1999 when it followed a
longer route with roughly the same number of floats, and (b) the Help Santa Toy
Parade which used the same route as the Fête-Caribe Parade did in 2001,
contained many more floats and was completed in less than three hours. Nonetheless, despite that generous
allotment, the street closures extended long after what was stipulated.
Failure to comply with the
schedule and time limits set out in the permit is a serious matter as it
negates the value of public service announcements, affects the pre-planned staffing
levels and operational schedules of OC Transpo, Police and emergency response
services and, it disrupts local residents and businesses longer than necessary.
Additionally, a key permit
requirement is that a sufficient number of volunteers be provided to
effectively staff the required barricades and to assist Police in managing
traffic affected by the parade. In
2001, the Fête-Caribe oganization supplied less than half the required number
of volunteers.
The Fête-Caribe Parade operates
differently from virtually all other parades in that it does not provide a
marshal to oversee its organization and coordination. This means there is no single point of authority representing the
organization to ensure that: (a) float entries line up properly prior to the
start; (b) the first float leaves on time; (c) subsequent floats leave at
appropriate intervals; (d) proportionate space is maintained between floats
throughout the parade; (e) the parade moves at a pace that ensures it will
finish on time; (f) the Police and City officials have a source who may be
contacted to resolve issues that must be addressed while the event is in
progress, and (g) directions are provided to participants, as necessary during
the event.
Failure to provide a marshal
contributed to the Fête-Caribe Parade starting late, and the absence of central
control resulted in requests to reduce the volume of sound systems being
ignored, floats being sometimes four or five city blocks apart, parade
participants sometimes proceeding in the wrong direction and, a blatant
unwillingness to cooperate on the part of some participants (i.e. to get off
Laurier Avenue as requested following the parade, so that it could be opened to
traffic).
Should the Transportation and Transit Committee
grant the parade organizer’s appeal, staff recommend the organization be
required to satisfy the following requirements if a 2002 edition of the
Fête-Caribe Parade is to be conducted on City streets:
1.
the City must
receive proof in writing that a parade marshal has been designated for this
year’s parade who will not participate in the parade, will be present during
the parade to receive and re-direct City official and Police instruction to the
parade participants, and will organize the parade floats and run the parade as
per the permit conditions;
2.
the City must
receive proof in writing that sufficient volunteers have been secured to staff
the required barricades, and
3.
the City must
receive assurance in writing that the parade will begin and end on time,
proportionate space between floats will be maintained throughout the parade,
and all other permit conditions will be adhered to.
As Fête-Caribe has applied for a parade date of
Saturday, 17 August 2002, a day when the Central Canada Exhibition will be in
progress, their preferred parade route of Bank Street, including the Glebe
area, would be unavailable. As a
result, it is recommended that this year’s parade, if it is permitted to take
place, follow the same alternate route that was used the last two years when
there were also date conflicts with the Central Canada Exhibition (i.e. Laurier
Avenue from Ottawa City Hall to Bank Street, south on Bank Street to Gladstone
Avenue, east on Gladstone Avenue to Elgin Street and north on Elgin Street back
to Ottawa City Hall). This alternate
parade route addresses the needs of the Fête-Caribe organizers without
impacting the Central Canada Exhibition traffic south of the Queensway.
In order that this alternate parade route may
be used however, the Transportation and Transit Committee must also approve
that an exception to Council’s Special Events Policy be made to permit the
crossing of the parade route by vehicular traffic, under Police direction,
while the parade is in progress.
ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPLICATIONS
There are no environmental implications.
RURAL IMPLICATIONS
N/A
CONSULTATION
The
Fête-Caribe representative who appealed on behalf of the organization has been
advised of the date of the Committee meeting on the matter.
TRANSPORTATION
MASTER PLAN
N/A
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
DISPOSITION
N/A
ATTACHMENTS
Annex C –
Letter to Fête-Caribe assigning first strike.
File Number 21-02-1557
25 March 2002
Mr. David Bostic
Fête-Caribe
P.O. Box 56090
Minto Place
355 Slater Street
Ottawa, ON K1R 7Z1
Dear Mr. Bostic
Re:
Fête-Caribe Parade
As you know, the City’s Council
approved Special Events Policy includes a penalty provision called the “Two
Strike Rule” which gives an event organizer a second chance after a situation
of non-compliance with permit conditions.
And, should a second violation occur, the policy provides that the event
not be permitted on City streets the next time the event would typically be
staged (i.e. the following year in the case of an annual event such as the
Fête-Caribe Parade).
You will recall that your
organization incurred a first strike following the 1998 Fête-Caribe Parade due
to non-compliance with several of the conditions set out in the Special Event
Permit issued to you in that year. The
attached letter which assigned the strike in 1998, you may also recall,
included an explanation of the Council approved “Two Strike Rule” and what the
implications would be if another strike was assigned.
While there were still
problems with the parade in 1999, there were also encouraging signs of
improvement; however, those indications failed to materialize in your parade of
2000. In fairness to your organization
the City did not react that year, as the parade route had never been used
before and therefore, the extent of blame attributable to your organization was
unclear.
In 2001 though, the parade
followed the same route as it did in 2000 and there were far more problems
associated with it than ever before.
First and foremost, the parade took place without the City receiving the
required proof of insurance or the signed and completed Statement of
Indemnification. Then, in terms of the
parade itself, it started approximately 90 minutes late and was poorly
coordinated. In fact, the last float departed
the launch site so late that Police were forced to escort it via an alternative
route, to catch up with the rest of the parade. This, compounded by the refusal of some parade participants to
leave the roadway following the parade, required that Laurier Avenue between
Nicholas Street and Elgin Street be closed three hours longer than planned for.
Failure to comply with the
schedule set out in the parade permit is a serious matter as it negates the
value of public service announcements, affects the pre-planned operating and
staffing schedules of OC Transpo and emergency services, and disrupts local
residents and businesses longer than necessary.
As you know, the 2001 parade was
allowed ample time (five hours) to complete.
This is compared with: (a) the
four hours your parade was allotted in 1999 when your organization used a
longer route with roughly the same number of floats, and (b) the Help Santa Toy
Parade which used the same route that your organization did in 2001, had many
more parade floats and was completed in less than three hours. Yet despite the generous five hour
allotment, City street closures extended long beyond what was stipulated in the
permit due to the parade’s late start and lack of cooperation at the end of the
parade.
Another important permit
requirement is to have sufficient volunteers to staff the required barricades
and assist the Police to manage traffic affected by the parade. In 2001, your organization supplied less
than half the required number of volunteers.
The Fête-Caribe Parade is
different from other parades in that it does not assign a parade marshal to
oversee the overall organization and operation of the parade. The absence of a parade marshal for example
means there is no one person assigned to ensure that: (a) the parade float entries properly line up prior to the
parade’s commencement; (b) the first float leaves on time; (c) the subsequent
floats leave at appropriate intervals; (d) proportionate space between floats
is maintained throughout the parade; (e) the parade continues at an appropriate
pace so that it finishes on time; (f) the Police and City officials have a
source which they can contact to help remedy issues that need to be addressed
while the parade is in progress, and (g) direction from an authority figure
within your organization may be given throughout the event as necessary.
This is, at least in part, why
your parade was late, why requests to lower the volume on sound systems were
not taken seriously, why parade floats were sometimes four or five city blocks
apart, why the parade participants sometimes proceeded in the wrong direction
and why there was often a blatant unwillingness to co-operate on the part of
your parade participants (i.e. refusal to get off Laurier Avenue following the
parade so that it could be opened to traffic).
As a result of the 2001 permit
condition violations, we have no choice but to hereby serve notice that a
second strike has been assigned against you and your organization. This means
that the next opportunity your
organization may stage the Fête-Caribe Parade on City of Ottawa streets is
August 2003.
In order to help ensure
compliance with the permit conditions the next time the parade is conducted on
City of Ottawa streets, we recommend that a parade marshal be appointed. We also highly recommend that your
organization contract a security firm to staff the required barricades during
the parade. This will ensure you will
have sufficient volunteers come parade day.
Implementing these suggestions would be two very positive steps in the
right direction.
We recognize the cultural and
economic benefits that a parade like Fête-Caribe brings to the community. We, the City, have an interest in helping
make your parade a success in Ottawa.
Please contact Jerry Thomas, the City’s Special Events Coordinator, at
580-2424 ext. 21675 to discuss other steps you can take to make the next
edition of the Fête-Caribe Parade on City of Ottawa streets problem-free.
Yours truly
Attach. (1)
Ottawa Police/Sgt. Barrette
Manager of
Sponsorship and Special Events/M. Gervais
Councillor
C. Doucet
Councillor
E. Arnold
