Fireworks rules were obeyed on New Year’s Eve in Mississauga: City
Published January 4, 2024 at 5:04 pm
No complaints of illegal use of fireworks were received in Mississauga during New Year’s Eve celebrations, suggesting to city officials that compliance with their reworked bylaw was widespread.
A City of Mississauga spokesperson said in an email to insauga.com that the city’s enforcement officers “received no complaints and issued no fines on New Year’s Eve” related to the illegal use of fireworks by either residents or mall/plaza owners.
“Based on the fact that no complaints were submitted or fines issued by enforcement staff, compliance with the bylaw appears to have been achieved,” the spokesperson said.
Illegal fireworks and other noise and late-night disturbances have been problems at plazas, malls and industrial areas in many parts of the city the past several years. The issue prompted changes to Mississauga bylaws this past fall that significantly hiked fines for illegal use of fireworks.
As of this past Dec. 1, the worst offenders in terms of illegal fireworks use are subject to fines of up to $100,000. The penalty had been capped for years at $5,000.
Meanwhile, Peel Regional Police said they, too, received no fireworks-related calls during this year’s celebrations.
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“It does not appear that we received any calls for complaints about fireworks in our region on New Year’s Eve,” a Peel police spokesperson said in an email to insauga.com.
With its amended fireworks bylaw that calls for hefty fines, Mississauga is taking direct aim at those who most egregiously break fireworks rules.
“This is targeting the illegal fireworks that we, as a municipality, have been dealing with for years,” Ward 8 Coun. Matt Mahoney told his colleagues shortly before his motion calling for stiffer fines passed back in late October. “I think the $100,000 fine is really something that just shows people who are breaking the rules that we’re not going to stand for it any longer.”
Ward 8 Coun. Matt Mahoney.
(Cover photo: Adam Pulicicchio, via City of Mississauga)
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