A decades-old December tradition in one Nova Scotia community has been sidelined due to new safety rules.
The Cape Breton Regional Municipality amended its rules after a four-year-old girl was fatally run over by a parade float last month in Yarmouth, N.S. Under the new rules, any float must have two people standing on either side of it while it is using local roadways.
That poses a problem in Glace Bay, N.S., where volunteer firefighters have been escorting Santa Claus around the community on a float for 50 years.
Fire chief John Chant says it would take firefighters a month to cover all of Glace Bay at walking speed. Prior to this year, moving at about 25 km/h, Santa’s tour had been able to hit every street in the community in about a week.
Some Glace Bay residents who spoke with CTV Atlantic said they were disappointed to learn Santa wouldn’t be making his way through the streets this year.
“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous,” Nancy Budden said.
“Santa Claus is there to put a smile on kids’ faces and there’s going to be an awful lot of upset kids.”
Municipal officials say they will take another look at the new rules early in 2019.
Santa will still make an appearance in Glace Bay this year, as the firefighters will help him meet boys and girls in the parking lot of the Sterling Mall on Sunday from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m.
