Drunk boaters won’t be tolerated during fireworks

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) -Vancouver Police will be cracking down on boaters who drink during Wednesday’s fireworks.

“We rely on a couple of things: we rely on observations from other boaters to report information about boat operation which may be impaired. And we look for it proactively with our marine unit on the water, and do checks that we need to do to make sure everyone’s safe on the water,” says Cst. Jana McGuinness.

Police will be at boat launches in Port Moody, Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Richmond and New Westminster to inspect boaters before they enter the water.

Meanwhile, people living in Vancouver’s West End are pleading with fireworks-goers to leave the trash and the trash talk at home.  Their focus this year is on keeping the beach and neighbourhood clean of homophobia.

West End MLA Spencer Chandra-Herbert says with so many of what he calls ‘hate crimes’ making the news, a main focus is keeping hate out.  “People [in previous years] may have been called names; they may have been laughed at or shouted at.  Certainly, when people have been drinking it’s been worse, and certainly when there’s a wider crowd.”

Brent Granby, with the West End Resident’s Association, agrees with Chandra-Herbert.  “We’re really asking people to be respectful of the diversity of our community.  People live down here because of the diversity, they feel safe within diversity, and that’s a really important value for us.”