Ottawa's Canada Day fireworks were cancelled on July 1 because of dangerous weather. Nine days later, the explosives went off anyway — in the middle of the night, without warning anyone. Two city councillors are now unhappy about how this was handled.

Here is what happened: Officials had the fireworks ready to go when bad weather forced the cancellation. The problem was that they now had live explosives sitting around. Taking them apart was risky and could have caused an accident.

So on Thursday, July 10, around 11 p.m., they set them off over downtown Ottawa. Nobody was told it was coming. The decision came from a group that handles city events — it includes police, emergency services, and people from Canadian Heritage, the federal department that runs Canada Day programs.

Why did they keep it secret? The group thought that telling people ahead of time might bring too many crowds to LeBreton Flats Park, where the fireworks would happen. That same night, a big music festival called Bluesfest was opening right next to the park. More people in the area meant more danger.

Pilots got a warning. Three days before the display, NAV CANADA (the company that manages Canadian airspace) told pilots to stay below 2,000 feet in the area. But regular people who live in the neighbourhood? They heard nothing.

By the next morning, the city had received 38 complaints. Coun. Ariel Troster (who represents Somerset Ward) said she got no warning and called it "unacceptable." Coun. Jeff Leiper said he was "angry" the city did not tell anyone first.

Making it worse: Bluesfest was opening that night. So thousands of people at the festival got a surprise fireworks show. People living nearby, who had no reason to expect explosions, also got one.

Here is the real issue: Safety experts and emergency responders made a reasonable decision. Storing live explosives is dangerous. But the people in charge of that decision never told the city councillors who represent the neighbourhoods that would see and hear the fireworks. And the regular system for telling the public about public events — that did not happen either.

This kind of mistake happens often when different city departments and government agencies have to work together. The safety people did their job well. But the politicians who answer to residents for noise and disruption? They found out too late, or not at all.

It is also a federal-versus-local issue. Canada's federal government runs the Canada Day program through Canadian Heritage. The city of Ottawa runs its own bylaw system and complaint process. These two levels do not always talk to each other. The event advisory group had police and emergency workers at the table. It did not have city councillors.

It is not yet clear whether the city council will hold a formal meeting about this or ask for a review. But two councillors speaking publicly usually means more action will follow than just complaint numbers alone.

The bigger question is straightforward: Who should decide whether to hold unannounced public events, and should city councillors always get a heads-up — even when there is a real safety reason to keep it quiet?