Laurier stands with police against St. Patrick's Day Ezra street party

Not only will students have to fight against Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) for their right to party on Ezra Avenue this St. Patrick's Day, but they'll have to face off against Wilfrid Laurier University too.

David McMurray, the vice president of student affairs at Laurier, told CBC News the school is teaming up with police to crack down on the party that brought nearly 15,000 students to Ezra Avenue last St. Patrick's day.

"Laurier has actively discouraged this (party) right from the start and has spent an incredible amount of time and effort with multiple people trying to manage the situation," said McMurray. 

"So this year we are basically following the lead of police and do whatever we can do from a communications perspective to advise our students of what may be expected in terms of stronger police presence."

Firm, but fair

Police have said they will be taking a firm, but fair approach after expressing concern about their ability to oversee the party in previous years. 

"This is a transition from our past approach where we facilitated a safe environment," said WRPS chief Bryan Larkin in an interview with CBC News last week. "We're shifting our policy approach."

Last year's annual unsanctioned drink fest cost police $120,000, and with this year's festivities landing on a Saturday, the cost could rise.

McMurray and Larkin both said there will be added security this year, but neither could say how much it would cost.

'Don't want anything to do with it'

He said the greatest concern as of late, other than the large number of people in one area has been the non-students who flock to Ezra.

Each year Laurier is flooded with students from other campuses, high school students, non-students, people from general community and people with no affinity to Waterloo region at all.

"People have to remember the majority of students don't go to Ezra street and don't want anything to do with it," said McMurray. 

For the students that do attend however, Laurier has said there are consequences for inappropriate actions.

"We've always stressed that if students encounter conflict and issues with the law, the non-academic code of conduct at Laurier will apply," said McMurray.

"That's really not a threat. That's an attempt to try to ensure our students who choose to celebrate do so in a responsible way."

Suspension and expulsion

The party, according to McMurray, is "absolutely disruptive" to what the universities top priority is, which he says is teaching, learning and research.

At Wilfrid Laurier University, there is a range of sanctions that could apply to students who infringe on the code of conduct, ranging from a conversation about their wrongdoing, right up to suspension and expulsion depending on the nature of the situation.

And that's not to mention potential police charges.

In 2017, police wrote 197 tickets and arrested four people as a result of the party. All tickets were for provincial offences, such as for having open liquor, being intoxicated in public and urinating in public.

This year, McMurray said the school has made a number of changes to prevent the party from getting out of hand. 

He said there has been a significant poster campaign and a "door knocker campaign," where police and other officials are placing door hangers that outline any city bylaws related to the party on door knobs in the area.

There has also been peer-to-peer messaging from the Laurier Student's Union, who are encouraging classmates to attend alternative, school-sanctioned events.