{"id":793935,"date":"2026-07-11T00:47:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T00:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/793935\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T00:47:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T00:47:12","slug":"city-of-ottawas-surprise-nighttime-fireworks-show-flabbergasts-councillors-and-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/793935\/","title":{"rendered":"City of Ottawa\u2019s surprise nighttime fireworks show flabbergasts councillors and residents"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Fireworks explode over the Ottawa River during last year’s Canada Day festivities.Spencer Colby\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

In a bid to get rid of potentially dangerous Canada Day fireworks left unused because of bad weather, municipal and federal officials set off a surprise late-night show in Ottawa this week that astonished residents.<\/p>\n

One moment, it was a quiet Thursday night, then, out of the blue, a major fireworks display was unleashed around 11 p.m. over the core of the country\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really was insane. That\u2019s all I can say,\u201d Ariel Troster, the city councillor for Somerset Ward in the city\u2019s downtown, said in an interview on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, I am getting bombarded by e-mails. What I am telling people is, \u2018It woke me up too. Nobody told me either. It\u2019s unacceptable.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

As of Friday morning, the city\u2019s bylaw department had received 38 complaints related to the unexpected show, according to a statement from Ryan Perrault, general manager of emergency and protective services.<\/p>\n

Later in the day, the Canadian Heritage department laid out a scenario that was largely unknown to residents of the city ahead of the explosive overnight show.<\/p>\n

Extreme weather on Canada Day forced the cancellation of a planned fireworks display at LeBreton Flats, near Parliament Hill. Because the fireworks were already primed, it would have posed a safety risk to the fireworks crew to try and disarm them, said a statement issued by Heritage spokesperson Caroline Czajkowski.<\/p>\n

In addition, there was a concern that advertising the use of the fireworks would have created a challenging situation if crowds turned up for the display because the Ottawa Bluesfest show was under way, bringing crowds into the area of the city where the fireworks were located.<\/p>\n

According to Ms. Czajkowski\u2019s statement, there was an interest in ensuring that crowds did not exceed the safe capacity of the LeBreton Flats Park and surrounding area.<\/p>\n

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Mr. Perrault\u2019s statement said there were worries about \u201can event surrounding an event,\u201d causing a safety risk and placing additional pressure on the crowd.<\/p>\n

So, the city\u2019s event advisory team, whose members include representatives of the Ottawa police, emergency services and Canadian Heritage, decided to proceed with the show.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe public-safety risks associated with encouraging additional attendance in the surrounding area outweighed the benefits of broader notification,\u201d said Mr. Perrault\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cStaff recognize that the display caused concern and disturbance for some residents, particularly given the absence of advance notice.\u201d<\/p>\n

NAV CANADA, which manages Canadian civil airspace, was in on the planned display. <\/p>\n

As a result, the non-profit corporation published a notice three days before the event, restricting airspace up to 2,000 feet above sea level during the show, according to media relations manager Gabriel Bourget.<\/p>\n

Mr. Bourget said in a statement that the restriction applied to all aircraft, including drone, and except for police and medevac operations.<\/p>\n

He noted that the order was intended for pilots and aircraft operators. <\/p>\n

\u201cPublic notification of fireworks displays is the responsibility of event organizers and local authorities,\u201d said the statement.<\/p>\n

Ms. Troster, one of two central Ottawa city councillors, said the unexpected fireworks may have been distressing to survivors of warfare elsewhere in the world who now live in Ottawa.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t pleased about it \u2013 not because I don\u2019t like fireworks but because no one was informed about it, including me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Fireworks explode over the Ottawa River during last year’s Canada Day festivities.Spencer Colby\/The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":793936,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739,714],"class_list":["post-793935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=793935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}