Gimli council considers seasonal compromise on boardwalk dog ban

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/06/2015 (3735 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Gimli Mayor Randy Woroniuk has proposed a compromise as a community-splitting vote looms Wednesday.

Woroniuk and two of the other four town councillors recently voted on first reading of a bylaw to support extending the beach ban on dogs to include the boardwalk and grass between the water and parking lot.

Second and possibly third reading come Wednesday evening, the meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m., the decisive vote sometime after 8 p.m. after councillors hear from delegations completely and utterly opposed to the potential ban.

Woroniuk said this morning that he’s prepared to table an amendment to the motion that would limit the boardwalk ban to the period of the high tourist season. The beach and the grass would be off limits to dogs the entire year, but they could be taken on the boardwalk for about eight months of the year.

“It’s a compromise,” Woroniuk said. After Labour Day, there are only a few weeks of weather decent enough for local residents to be out with their dogs, and few tourists, he said.

The ban’s proponents say that it’s both for hygiene and for the safety of people, some of whom may not be comfortable around dogs.

Including the grass in the proposed year-round ban, he said, “is to keep the grass clean. After the September long weekend, there’s no beach patrol. We don’t want to see a lot of dog feces on the grass.”

But ban-opponent Jason Beck said this morning that Woroniuk just doesn’t get it.

“This doesn’t solve the problem. Gimli has always been a very laid-back, dog-friendly tourist town,” said Beck. “You can’t tell tourists what they can and can’t do.”

“I’d like to finish this and get on with our lives; my god, it’s just dogs.”

Gimli Mayor Randy Woroniuk

Beck said that tourists come to town to eat and shop, and they want to stroll the boardwalk with their pet.

“The beach ban, no one has a problem with,” Beck said, but, “I don’t think council understands the economic impact.”

Pointing out that he has two dogs, Woroniuk argued that, “Humans come first, not dogs. I’d like to finish this and get on with our lives; my god, it’s just dogs.”