Q&A: Uptown Waterloo councillor explains why city can't just cancel Ezra party

COVID-19 fears are growing, and increasingly, more and more events are being cancelled.

In the meantime, Uptown Waterloo is bracing for the annual influx of young people for an unsanctioned street party to mark St. Patrick's Day.

Last year, the gathering attracted 33,000 people, despite urging from police, public officials and others not to attend.

On Friday, Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health recommended the immediate suspension of all large events and public gatherings of more than 250 people. 

Meanwhile, the area's city councilor, Tenille Bonoguore, says she's being asked why the city can't shut down the Ezra Avenue party on almost a daily basis.

She sat down with CBC's Craig Norris on The Morning Edition to answer that question.

Here is their conversation, edited for clarity and length.

Craig Norris: What concerns are you hearing from your constituents about this unsanctioned street party where it dovetails with COVID-19?

Tenille Bonoguore: We're getting a lot of calls and a lot of emails from people that are just really concerned that this is going to spark a rapid onset of the spread of COVID-19 here.

CN: And what's been your response? What do you say to those people?

TB: Well a lot of the calls are just basically asking us why is the city not cancelling this event?  And all I can tell them is we've been trying to for years. This is not a city event.

CN:  How likely do you think it is that that students don't show up on Tuesday?

TB: I think this might be the year that people listen to that message the most. I mean the thing to remember it's not just really corona virus that is a risk at an event like this. I mean, every year we've got people taken to hospital for a slip and fall, binge drinking, there is drug abuse. And you know there's the regular cold and flu season. I mean this kind of gathering is a germ factory. And this year is just really highlighting some of those risks. And, as you say, there is there is no core organizer. That's part of the problem.

CN: You tell students, 'Please don't attend.' You tell parents, 'Have a conversation with your student/child and encourage them not to attend.' Last year's party still attracted more than 30,000 kids. Why do you think it's just not working to simply ask them not to go?

TB: Well to be fair the city was part of a task force that looked at how to curtail these events, and they just brought their final report to the City of Waterloo recently. So there's a new plan in place. It will start this year. So we're all very hopeful that we're heading in the right direction to curtail it. But, you know, given that this isn't a sanctioned event. The only way to stop it is for people to not go onto the street and to not show up. We are sharing that message as well as we can. The universities are doing so with their student bodies as well the student unions have been great in trying to share this message as well. But it's tough because there's still a fair percentage of the student population who are saying, 'We're going to do it anyway.' So we're really hoping that with peer pressure and peer encouragement, people will just really start re-evaluating that position. We're also getting e-mails from students who are worried about themselves. They don't want this coming into their buildings. They're sick of the party too.  So it's not just the neighbours in the surrounding neighborhoods it's the neighbours in the surrounding apartments as well.

CN: What do you think people in your ward and just the city, what can they do to stay informed about all of this?

TB: There are a number of things. Signing up for the City of Waterloo news alerts is a good start. The students who are interested, keep in touch with the student union [and] find out some advice from them. When it comes to the party itself though, there's no way to stay informed particularly about if it is going on or not, because as you said, this is a gnarly problem with no central organizer. But if you do have kids in high school or university, this is a great time to talk to them about it because not everyone realizes that this is an unlawful event. Some people are inviting their friends because they think it's all legit but it's really not right.

CN: I mean it has the feeling of legitimacy just because of the numbers, right? We keep saying 'unsanctioned,' and that's an important thing to remember.

TB: There's going to be changes this year that will make it look a bit more like homecoming – that was within the task force report that came to the city. So there'll be different signage. There'll be a different kind of police presence, much like we saw at homecoming.  We're just trying a new approach.  Hopefully it'll be a much smaller crowd to start with. Or maybe not even one.