St. Albert to cancel Canada Day fireworks

St. Albert calls off Canada Day fireworks The city cancels fireworks due to prior launch site at former St. Albert residential school.

EDMONTON — The City of St. Albert says they will not be moving forward with their annual Canada Day fireworks display out of respect for survivors of the residential school system.

In previous years, St. Albert’s Canada Day fireworks were launched from Mission Hill, the former site of the Youville Residential School.

Heron told CTV News on Saturday, the City of St. Albert is not cancelling Canada Day in its entirety.

“We have a lot of celebrations and activities planned for residents, it’s just the fireworks that we canceled or I can even say, postponed.”

Heron says the decision to call off the fireworks display was made after consulting with the Indigenous community.

“The City of St. Albert encourages residents to spend this Canada Day considering both the opportunities and freedoms afforded to many within our country as well as the tragic history that our nation’s story has been built upon,” said Mayor Cathy Heron in a press release, Friday.

The City says it explored other locations to hold the fireworks on July 1, but due to the size and scope of the event, technical and safety considerations, and short time frame, it was not able to find an alternative in time for Canada Day this year.

St. Albert hopes to find a new location to launch fireworks for future events.