The West Kootenay Toy Run Association has asked the City of Trail for assistance in securing the required permits for the 2025 Toy Run.
The annual Toy Run has been unable to hold its parade-style ride through the city’s downtown core for the last two years after failing to obtain the required parade permit.
Instead, the group of over 200 motorcyclists has been required to follow all traffic laws as normal and has been prohibited from blocking any roadways.
President of the organization, Brendan Prough, and Secretary Jeannie Tellier held a delegation during the October 15 city council meeting to clarify any misinformation about what the organization does.
For 35 years, the association had been able to block city streets in Trail for the Toy Run with their experienced flaggers, with Prough and Tellier telling council that sometimes even the RCMP would help at certain locations, particularly at the intersection by Safeway and the hospital.
However, in 2023, when members assumed they could block the streets again for the event, they were informed by police that they could no longer proceed that way.
“One of our volunteers was threatened with a ticket for blocking traffic in Trail. He was told he was breaking the law, and just because we donate a few toys doesn’t give him a free pass,” said Prough.
The group states they tried to reach out to the Trail RCMP detachment to clear things up but were unsuccessful.
In preparation for the 2024 Toy Run, Treasurer Bonnie Horswell sent a letter to City Council asking for information on what is required to hold the Toy Run as it historically would for the 2024 event, while emphasizing the steps they take to ensure minimal disruption.
“Do we disrupt your towns? Yes, we do, for about 20 minutes, once a year, with flaggers blocking traffic to make it as quick and safe as we can for all. Can you imagine what would happen with 200 bikes going through your town without flaggers or without blocking traffic? How safe would it be? How long would we block side streets?” reads Horswell’s letter.
“We donate our time, work hard for our communities, and we want to continue, but it’s hard when the rules keep changing, and it’s impossible when the goalposts move without notice. Help us help our communities. Please forward any permit or licence applications or new policies we need to be aware of.”
City staff replied a few weeks later with a link for a Highway Use Permit for special events.
Prough says he then filled out the necessary forms and required information, which included multiple pages of information, maps, and drawings for the permit request. The last step was obtaining the municipality’s approval, which is required with the application.
However, once he submitted the package to the City for approval before sending it off to the Ministry of Transportation, the city said no unless they could demonstrate that all traffic laws would be obeyed, as “anything less than that is not supported by the RCMP,” while also questioning how the event could be classified as a parade, which “moves at a very low speed.”
A confused Prough replied that they were told they needed a parade permit, with the city sending him the link to apply, while also asking why a permit is even required if they have to follow all traffic laws.
The city’s reply was that they have no jurisdiction regarding a provincial highway; therefore, they could not provide municipal approval, which is why the group was referred to the Ministry of Transportation.
Prough then asked council again what they need to do to get approval, using Trail Silver City Days as an example of another event that is allowed to block off city roads.
“There are times when traffic is stopped for events in Trail. For instance, the Trail Silver City Days Parade travels on both city streets and the highway, and in order to do that, traffic needs to be stopped. What do we need to do to get approval to do that? What would qualify us?”
Trail Mayor Colleen Jones says that while she appreciates all the steps the group takes to ensure safety and sympathizes with their inability to get the required permits, she stated that the city has to go through the same permitting process when they hold events that impact traffic as well.
She noted that the RCMP has to sign off on the municipal approval for the permit application to the city and directed them to begin the process once again for 2025.
“I would suggest then that you reach out to the RCMP again or contact the Ministry of Transportation and just see what the process looks like this year. If we had a traffic issue or something that we had to block off, we would have to go through the same process.”
“I don’t know what to say, Brendan, but I think you have to start the process over again this year through the Ministry of Transportation, and we’ll see what happens with that. But we’re under the same stipulations as you are when we apply for our Silver City Day program.”
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