Another Sea Cavalcade has come and gone, and for the second year in a row, volunteers and the Sunshine Coast RCMP are frustrated by the lack of common sense shown by some people in this community.
Although not as bad as last year, last Saturday's street dance in Lower Gibsons still had its fair share of problems with youth and young adults intoxicated, starting fights that resulted in 16 arrests and numerous charges for public intoxication.
The street dance is supposed to be a family-oriented event with zero tolerance for drugs and alcohol. And despite many volunteers manning the entrances along the street, stepped-up patrols from the RCMP, bag checks and liquor pour-outs, some either showed up drunk or managed to sneak past the checks and created numerous problems for law enforcement.
We have no problem with folks having a few drinks, celebrating and having a good time with family and friends at a local restaurant or pub or at the numerous house and boat parties that are the norm during Sea Cavalcade weekend. What we do have a problem with is people, in most cases last Saturday youth and young adults, drinking to excess, getting into fights and causing trouble. Why can't folks drink and party responsibly? Why do some have to ruin the party for others?
And that's just what a few people may have done - ruin the party.
Sea Cavalcade officials, RCMP and Gibsons town council have had enough of the shenanigans and the hooligans who choose the Sea Cav weekend as their time to lose their senses and start trouble.
Last year, RCMP responded to 52 files related to Sea Cavalcade - most because of public intoxication and partying that got way out of hand due to over-indulgence. At one point last year, 12 youths were sitting in jail cells in Sechelt to sober up while police called their parents to come and pick them up.
We would have thought that after last year's acts of stupidity, some would have sobered up and seen fit to have a good time, but to do so with respect for themselves and for their community. Seems that didn't happen last Saturday night.
Why is it that in this day and age and in this society, we are still writing about drunken fools running amok on our streets? Didn't we learn anything from what happened in Vancouver on June 15 with the Stanley Cup riot?
Don't get us wrong - we are certainly not saying what happened during the street dance compares to the destruction that was caused in Vancouver. But it's still people not knowing when enough is enough.
After the last two years, Sea Cav organizers have even more reason to cancel the street dance, and we don't blame them. Maybe that is the only way for people to get the message.
