Share your thoughts regarding large public gatherings

In Waterloo, large unsanctioned public gatherings have grown on St. Patrick's Day and also as part of the Wilfrid Laurier Homecoming weekend. We're looking for community input on how to best address the issues associated with large unsanctioned public gatherings.

Unsanctioned public gatherings are a growing phenomenon in North America. The reasons these gatherings occur are as varied as the gatherings themselves. While stopping these gatherings may be desired by some people in the community, the reality is, the Charter of Rights and Freedom, coupled with finite resources, makes this virtually impossible.

In 2018, Mayor Dave Jaworsky struck a multi-agency task force to address this issue. The role of the task force is to:

• receive information and create recommendations on ways to reduce, refocus and prevent negative impacts of unsanctioned public gatherings;
• operate for two years with an understanding that implementation of its recommended strategies may take an additional two – five years;
• outline the challenges and benefits that unsanctioned public gatherings have on the community; and
• include research on crowd science and gather information on the experiences and strategies of other jurisdictions.

To help fulfill this mandate, the task force would like to hear from the community.