Vancouver city council rejects ‘Safe Streets for Trick or Treats’ motion

A Vancouver city councillor says she’s “gobsmacked” by a decision to refer a motion that would have made it easier to create pedestrian-only zones on Halloween.

Coun. Lucy Maloney says every Oct. 31 marks some of the highest numbers of traffic deaths and injuries involving children.

She presented a motion to council Wednesday that would have made it easier for residents to get a permit to pedestrianize their neighbourhoods on Halloween.

The proposed permit would work like those for a block party. Maloney also suggested providing free street barricades to permitted blocks, with “delivery and pick-up and free basic event
insurance.”

The motion, which would have had the permitting process in place for Halloween 2026, was delayed in council Wednesday.

All five present members of the ABC Party voted to refer the motion. Maloney took to social media to share her dismay, saying ABC “punted” it to staff without offering an alternative.

In council, she said all the referral does is “delay action that families can take to make children safer.”

Vancouver Green Party Coun. Pete Fry supported that the motion be carried. He shared an anecdote about watching a driver nearly strike a trick-or-treating child.

“Everyone was shocked,” said Fry. “And we almost ripped the limbs off that particular driver because folks were outraged that anybody would drive that quickly on Halloween. On a dark night with kids running back and forth — kids jacked up on sugar.”

ABC Coun. Brian Montague argued that pedestrian zones may increase vehicle incidents elsewhere.

“This is Halloween, though. Almost every residential street is busy with kids. If you block off the street to reroute traffic, you might reduce traffic on that one street, but you’re not reducing the overall amount of cars in the city.”

For 2025, Maloney is encouraging residents to leave their cars at home for the prime trick-or-treating hours between 5 and 9 p.m.