The city is going to review security measures at all city-run and city-authorized events in Windsor.
Ward 3 Councillor Renaldo Agostino requested during Monday's meeting that administration conduct an immediate review of the current event safety planning policies and that the report include a risk assessment process for all event spaces, block parties, and street closures.
Agostino requested the review after an SUV drove into a crowd attending a street festival in Vancouver, killing 11 people and leaving dozens injured.
One man has been charged with eight counts of second-degree murder, but additional charges could be possible.
Ward 3 Councillor Renaldo Agostino says most street closures involve wooden barriers to prevent vehicles from entering.
"The reason we use the wooden horses instead of something bigger is if an emergency vehicle needs to get through. We always have to leave 16 feet of clearance and room for quick ease. So it always has to be monitored, and someone has to be able to move that wooden horse. The issue is that the wooden horse is not very safe," he says.
Agostino says he's helped with a number of events in his lifetime that have involved street closures.
"I don't want the community to think there's a threat of some type of incident, which is always there, to be honest. But the thing I saw the most was distracted drivers, elderly drivers, getting to within a foot of our barriers," he says.
Agostino says he just wants to see what options are available for the types of barriers for street closures and how they can improve safety.
"I wouldn't be able to live with myself if someone hit a patio or mistakenly went through a barrier and hit one person, or hit somebody's dog, or ran over something," he says.
Agostino asked that the report be expedited given the warmer weather brings with it a number of festivals and events across Windsor.