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Pembroke council cancels Canada Day celebrations but keeps option for late-season fireworks open

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Pembroke’s Canada Day celebration has fallen victim to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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During the latest meeting of city council on May 19, Pembroke’s CAO Terry Lapierre looked to council for its direction on how to handle the annual July 1st celebration of Canadian Confederation.

Really, with current provincial restrictions on gatherings of more than five people, council was left with little choice but to cancel the event; which is precisely what it chose to do.

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“We’ve reached out in our area as well as across the province and the vast majority are cancelling, mainly because of the pandemic requirements for social distancing,” Lapierre told council. “So pretty much any events, including ours during the summer, that attract large groups of spectators or participants have had to be cancelled.”

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The traditional exclamation point to Canada Day is a fireworks display, which council chose to postpone instead of outright cancel.

Lapierre said that the fireworks for this year’s display had not been purchased yet and that suppliers anticipate still having a good quantity available later in the season.

With the COVID-19 situation remaining very fluid, council did not choose a new date for the display, it just kept the option open of hosting a display sometime in the late summer or fall.

“We are keeping the option of hosting a fireworks display later in the year once it is deemed safe to do so, so we hope to celebrate with you soon,” said Pembroke Mayor Michael LeMay.

adixon@postmedia.com

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