News

Ghosts Busted: Why This Canadian’s Halloween Decor Could Cost Him $5,000

TLDR: A Burlington homeowner faces a $5,000 fine for his Halloween ghost lights, sparking debate over Canada’s cultural traditions being stifled by bylaws. Is this a neighborly spat or a sign of eroding festive spirit?

Published

3 months ago

October 26, 2025

Jorden Pieva

Ghosts Busted: Why This Canadian’s Halloween Decor Could Cost Him $5,000

In a viral X post by @Tablesalt13 that’s got Canadians buzzing from coast to coast, a Burlington, Ontario, homeowner found himself in hot water over a few glowing ghosts in his front yard. As reported by CHCH News, Brock McEwan received a city bylaw notice for his inflatable Halloween decorations, which could lead to a chilling $5,000 fine if not dialed back. His crime? A handful of illuminated ghosts, timed to glow for just two hours after dark, shutting off by 8:30 p.m. “I just couldn’t believe it, you know?” McEwan told CHCH, emphasizing his efforts to keep the display neighbor-friendly with minimal runtime.

According to Burlington’s Nuisance and Noise Control Bylaw 019-2003, lights deemed too strong, moving, or twinkly can be flagged if they disturb nearby properties. While the city insists there’s no ban on Halloween decor, McEwan’s setup apparently crossed an invisible line, prompting him to deflate his ghosts to avoid escalating fines. Local resident Delaney Moore-Wickham defended him, telling CHCH, “It’s not too bright, not too crazy,” noting she’s seen flashier displays in the neighborhood go untouched. Another neighbor, Scott Duncan, was equally unfazed, saying, “It doesn’t bother me one bit… Christmas decorations, Halloween decorations, I don’t care!”

But this spooky saga is more than a local squabble – it’s igniting a fiery debate about the erosion of Canadian traditions. On X, users are sounding the alarm. @madforfreedom quipped, “Maybe he should buy a bunch of fireworks and shoot them off for 24 hours a day and dance around in the street because that’s legal there…” – a pointed jab at how Diwali celebrations often involve late-night fireworks with less scrutiny. Similarly, @cjrcmeier warned, “Halloween could get cancelled, eventually Thanksgiving and Christmas too. Saw this coming. Western values and traditions are being destroyed to make way for a NWO.”

🚨NEW – Halloween decorations appear to now be BANNED in an Ontario city!

I told you this was coming.

Its over. Canada is over. pic.twitter.com/77VB4c6mc9— Tablesalt 🇨🇦🇺🇸 (@Tablesalt13) October 26, 2025

This sentiment taps into a broader unease: are Canada’s homegrown holidays – the harvest haunts, the snowy Christmas lights, the community-driven Halloween spirit – being sidelined to accommodate newer cultural imports? In a nation that prides itself on entrepreneurial flair and youthful energy, homeowners like McEwan embody the creativity that brings neighborhoods together. Yet, bureaucratic crackdowns like this feel like a direct hit to the traditions that knit our communities tight, especially when enforcement seems inconsistent. Why do twinkling ghosts draw fines while late-night fireworks spark fewer complaints? In our push for inclusivity, are we dimming the lights on the festivities that define Canada’s cultural core?

Here in the Bay of Quinte, where Belleville’s Halloween parades and Quinte West’s haunted hayrides light up the season, this story hits home. Our glowing pumpkins and skeleton-strewn lawns are more than decor – they’re a celebration of the vibrant, modern Canadian spirit. Thankfully, not all haunts are doomed. Just blocks from McEwan’s place, a family-run haunted garage thrives with fog machines and black lights, cleverly dodging bylaws by keeping the scares indoors. It’s a reminder that innovation can outsmart red tape, but it shouldn’t have to.

As Halloween looms on October 31, let’s rally to keep Canada’s traditions alive, from Burlington to the Bay of Quinte. A few glowing ghosts shouldn’t be the scariest thing we face – overzealous bylaws just might steal that crown. Is this a one-off neighborly hiccup, or the start of a broader cultural fade? What holiday traditions do you fear could vanish next?

Join us on X and Facebook to share your thoughts.

Sources:

@Tablesalt13 on X: https://x.com/Tablesalt13/status/1982456948101382619
CHCH News, “Burlington homeowner issued warning over Halloween decorations”: https://www.chch.com/burlington-homeowner-issued-warning-over-halloween-decorations/
City of Burlington, Bylaw Enforcement: https://www.burlington.ca/en/by-laws-and-animal-services/by-law-enforcement.aspx
Toronto Star, “Diwali fireworks spark debate on noise and safety” (2024): https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/diwali-fireworks-spark-debate-on-noise-and-safety/article

Up Next

The Bird is the Word: Judge Confirms Your Right to Flip the Finger

Don't Miss

Tax Scandal Rocks Ottawa: What Carney Knew at Brookfield

Canada

Ottawa Sinks Free Boating: New $24 Fee and 5-Year Renewal Cycle Hits Quinte Waters

TL;DR: Transport Canada has ended the era of free, lifetime pleasure craft licences, introducing a mandatory five-year renewal cycle and a $24 fee effective immediately. The new regulations also force existing lifetime licence holders to transition to the new system by specific deadlines and will expand licensing requirements to wind-powered vessels over six metres by 2027.

Published

6 days ago

January 8, 2026

A.D. Greiner

Ottawa Sinks Free Boating: New $24 Fee and 5-Year Renewal Cycle Hits Quinte Waters

Just when we thought we could look forward to a worry-free summer on the Bay of Quinte, Ottawa has decided to drop a new anchor on our wallets.

As of December 31, 2025, Transport Canada has quietly overhauled the Pleasure Craft Licence (PCL) program, effectively ending the era of the “lifetime” boat licence. If you own a vessel with a motor of 10 horsepower or more, the days of a one-and-done registration are over.

For the first time, Canadian boaters are being hit with a $24 fee to issue, renew, transfer, or replace a pleasure craft licence.

While twenty-four bucks might not break the bank for everyone, it is the principle that stings. For decades, licensing your boat was a free, administrative formality—a “thank you” for registering your vessel for safety purposes. Now, it looks suspiciously like another revenue stream flowing directly from our docks to the federal coffers.

The “Lifetime” Licence Myth

Perhaps the most frustrating part of this rollout is the retroactive nature of the changes. If you are sitting on a “lifetime” licence issued years ago, believing you were grandfathered in, think again.

Transport Canada has set a strict schedule to phase out these older licences. For example, if your licence was issued before 1985, it expires in 2026. This forces responsible boat owners, who followed the rules years ago, to jump back through the bureaucratic hoops and pay the new toll.

Sailors, You Are Next

The net is being cast wider, too. Our sailing community on the Trent-Severn and out in the open Bay isn’t safe from the regulator’s reach. Starting December 31, 2027, wind-powered pleasure craft over six metres in length will also require a licence.

This is a massive shift for sailing purists who have traditionally operated outside of these specific motor-vessel regulations.

Red Tape on the Rideau

To add insult to injury, the government has tightened the leash on reporting. You now have a mere 30 days to update your information if you move or change your name, slashed from the previous 90-day window.

They claim this is about “safety,” “accountability,” and managing abandoned vessels. But let’s be honest: does charging a fee and forcing paperwork every five years actually make the water safer? Or does it just create a larger pile of paper in Ottawa and a lighter wallet in Belleville?

For a region that thrives on waterborne tourism and recreation, adding friction to boat ownership is a wet blanket we didn’t ask for. We should be encouraging people to explore the waterways, not nickeling-and-diming them for the privilege.

Is this truly about cleaning up our waterways, or is it just another tax on the Canadian summer?

Join us on X and Facebook to share your thoughts.

Local

Belleville Police Furious: Charges Dropped as Courts “Run Out of Time”

TL:DR; The Belleville Police Service (BPS) warns that a massive court backlog is forcing them to drop charges against accused offenders as cases hit the 15-month “unreasonable delay” limit. While BPS blames a lack of judges, local commentators suggest the courts are clogged with thousands of “zombie tickets” from the now-defunct automated speed camera program. Critics argue that the government’s pursuit of easy ticket revenue has paralyzed the justice system and is allowing real criminals to walk free.

Published

2 weeks ago

December 30, 2025

A.D. Greiner

Belleville Police Furious: Charges Dropped as Courts "Run Out of Time"

Image created with Nano Banana

It is a scenario that would make any law-abiding Canadian’s blood boil. Police officers do the heavy lifting. They conduct thorough investigations. They lay charges. Then they watch the accused walk free because the courts simply ran out of time.

According to a recent and alarming media release by the Belleville Police Service (BPS), this is the new reality in Hastings County. The service is raising the red flag on a growing backlog of Provincial Offences Act (POA) cases that are hitting the 15-month limit set by provincial guidelines. The result is that charges are being unceremoniously withdrawn. This is not happening because the evidence is weak. It is happening because the system is too slow.

The frustration on the ground is palpable. In a Facebook comment below the announcement, local resident Beverly Carleton summed up the public sentiment perfectly.

She is not wrong. When the judicial system effectively tells officers “thanks for the hard work but we are too busy to finish the job” it sends a demoralizing message to law enforcement. It sends an even more dangerous message to offenders.

The “Zombie Ticket” Factor

But why is the system so clogged? The BPS release cites a lack of judicial availability and notes there are only 85 judicial sitting days per year in the county. However, savvy observers are pointing to a self-inflicted wound by municipal governments. The “ghost” of the Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) cameras.

Commentator Christopher Robson noted that this is not just a local issue. He pointed out that while the Province of Ontario has already removed these controversial cameras, the administrative damage is done.

Robson calls it a “speed-camera revenue scheme” and he makes a compelling point. Even though the cameras may be gone, the thousands of automated tickets they generated are still moving through the python of the judicial system. Every contested speed camera ticket for a minor infraction takes up precious docket time. That is time that could be used for more serious offenses.

The Bottom Line

We are witnessing a clash between revenue generation and law and order. By prioritizing automated ticketing systems that acted as municipal cash cows, local governments may have inadvertently paralyzed the very courts needed to keep our streets safe from genuine threats.

We now have a situation where real police work is being thrown in the trash to make room for a backlog of automated fines. When bureaucracy trumps justice, the public loses.

What do you think? Should we throw out all remaining speed camera tickets to clear the courts for real crimes?

Join us on X and Facebook to share your thoughts.

Local

Belleville’s $4M Speed Camera Program Is Now Officially Ended

TL;DR: The Ontario government, under Bill 56, is forcing the abrupt end of all municipal Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) cameras across the province, effective November 14th. Premier Doug Ford has called the cameras a “cash grab” that unfairly burdens drivers. While drivers celebrate the end of expensive fines, municipalities like Belleville are concerned about a sudden safety gap, as the new, physical traffic-calming measures promised by the province won’t be in place by the deadline. The move sparks a debate over whether the province prioritizes taxpayer relief over local road safety expertise.

Published

2 months ago

November 10, 2025

A.D. Greiner

Belleville's $4M Speed Camera Program Is Now Officially Ended

The City of Belleville Municipal Government confirmed what many Ontario drivers have been waiting for. In a recent Facebook notice, the city stated its Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) program will be discontinued this Friday, November 14th. This is not a local policy shift but a forced move by the provincial government, which has passed legislation stripping municipalities of the authority to run these controversial speed cameras.

Premier Doug Ford’s government, through the omnibus Bill 56—the Building a More Competitive Economy Act—has delivered on its promise to eliminate what it repeatedly labelled a municipal “cash grab.” These cameras, often issuing tickets for being just a few kilometers over the limit, felt less like a safety measure and more like an automated revenue funnel aimed at the wallets of hardworking Canadians. Finally, a government is listening to the common-sense complaint that excessive fines weeks after the fact do little to change immediate driving behaviour.

A Safety Gap or Smart Engineering?

However, the speed of this move is raising serious red flags. Many municipalities, including those like Ottawa and Mississauga which showed data confirming the cameras did reduce high-end speeding in school zones, are being forced to rip out their enforcement tools overnight. The province has promised a new fund to help cities implement “alternative traffic-calming measures”—think speed bumps, roundabouts, and raised crosswalks.

These physical solutions are undeniably superior. They proactively engineer safer streets rather than reactively punishing drivers. This shift aligns perfectly with a modern, entrepreneurial approach that values innovative solutions over bureaucratic enforcement.

But here is the critical flaw in the provincial plan: the ban takes effect on November 14th, but the funding and the installation of these physical infrastructure solutions will not be ready for months. This sudden, forced decommissioning creates an immediate and dangerous safety gap in zones specifically designated to protect our most vulnerable citizens—school children and seniors.

It feels like political expediency has once again trumped prudent policy. The Ford government successfully delivers a popular, populist win by lowering costs on drivers, but they fast-tracked the bill so aggressively that they failed to implement the necessary safety nets. The removal of the cameras, without the new infrastructure in place, suggests the primary goal was not seamless safety but rather the political theatre of ‘protecting taxpayers’ at all costs. This move undermines local municipal autonomy and risks sacrificing proven, localized safety measures for a rushed, top-down legislative victory.

Is the promise of future, superior infrastructure worth the risk to our communities in the interim, or has the provincial government traded long-term safety for a short-term political headline?

Join us on X and Facebook to share your thoughts.