Man digs behind fireworks cancellation

Crowsnest Promoter
By Joni MacFarlane

A Calgary man with family ties to the Crowsnest Pass is generating interest around southern Alberta over the cancellation of the popular fireworks display, Thunder in the Valley (TITV).

Dan Rickard said his wife was born and raised in the Pass and many of his extended relatives still live there. He returns with his family in the summers to visit the Crowsnest Pass and take in the fireworks displays. 

After reading about the cancellation in the Crowsnest Pass Promoter, Rickard said he wasn't prepared to "just sit back and let town council make decisions that affect... people and cost the local economy... without public consultation".

He began a website (whereisthethunder.ca) and has been handing out flyers on weekends in the Crowsnest Pass. Rickard and his efforts have also been the subject of a story in the Lethbridge Herald (April 4), a CBC radio interview on the popular Alberta at Noon program (April 11), and a TV interview with CTV in Edmonton (April 12). During the CBC interview, host Donna McElligott said no one from council was available to speak to them that day.

Rickard told McElligott he believes the cancellation is a "black mark against the town" and that the "reality is very different than what the press releases say".

In an interviewwith The Promoter, Rickard said there were several unanswered questions and he's pursuing getting to the truth behind the decision.

"The official town council statements on the cancellation can be boiled down to four main reasons," said Rickard. He believes the data doesn't back up the rationale.

He lists them as risk, cost, safety and legality, but said they don't hold up to the facts.

"The data over the last sev¬eral years doesn't back up that [safety] concern. The RCMP data shows less arrests every year," he said. "The past RCMP reports to council regarding TITV were all mostly positive" 

Rickard said visitors from out of town who attend the event have been made to feel like thugs and criminals, intent on causing havoc and unwelcome in the Pass. In all the years Rickard has been attending TITY, this concept is difficult to fathom, he said. He equates it to Vancouver cancelling the Stanley Cup or Calgary cancelling the Stampede because it might attract too many people.

In addition, the assumed costs for the event were "grossly overstated", he said, and describing it as "bizarre" that a detailed cost can't be given for previous years.

Regarding the claim that the previous 18 TITV events were illegal because there was no municipal bylaw is simply not true.

"[Council's] excuses insulted the organizers who put this event on every year and the people who came to watch it," said Rickard.

He is also attempting to get an official statement from CPR to back up their claim that they would not stop the train but said he believes this too, will not prove to be the case.

"Would CP really allow their trains to mow down people on the tracks? I doubt it."

Rickard told The Promoter another one of his goals, was to talk with local business to get an estimate of the financial impact that the cancellation will have on them. He said if the reasons for cancellation don't hold up and the local businesses can show they stand to lose money, there should be repercussions.

"What do [council] plan to do to make up those costs?" he asked.

"I am teaching my kids to always dig deeper into a story and hope that whatever happens, the truth will come out," said Rickard. "As soon as I hear a reason to justify the cancellation, I'll be the first to stop asking questions. But I'm not getting any answers that make sense."



We may not imagine how our lives could be more frustrating and complex--but Council can.