Bingo! It’s all classicism. It’s easy for them to look down on people who go to parks to drink and hangout. These people often have their own private grass and outdoor space they can enjoy. I live in an apartment and have beers on a blanket in public parks because the only outdoor space I really have.

This disconnect between how municipal leaders and many apartment/condo-dwelling constituents

We practice democracy. The municipal leaders are the constituents. Mayors and councillors are employees hired by the leaders to carry out their bidding. That said, there is probably something to be said about the, more likely to be poorer, people in apartment/condos spending less time – even no time – directing their employees. As the employees are certainly not mind readers, they are going to lean towards the bosses that talk to them and will quickly forget about the silent.

We do we have these bylaws? Ignorance rooted in class.

That is no doubt a large part of it. But there is also a lot of plain old conservatism, particularly in Toronto. Alcohol in convenience stores? "Won't someone please think of the children?" Toronto cries – not noticing that rural Ontario has allowed the sale of alcohol in convenience stores since 1962 without problem. Hell, it took until the year 2000 for Toronto to finally give up on being dry, decades after the rest of the province abandoned the idea. Like the naysayers to marijuana legalization, which turned out to be a nothingburger in the end, there is a lot of fear of the unknown. Should the bylaws be lifted, they would no doubt quickly forget about their concerns, but that doesn't stop the irrational resistance beforehand.

We recently went for a picnic in a park (obviously with alcohol), and we ended up sharing extra cake with strangers at the skate park, and my nurse friend helped an injured kid.

Not sure whether it was legal to drink at the park, but we definitely made a positive social impact just by being there instead of a private backyard.

Honestly, and this is purely anecdotal, but I think a "public intoxication" law is way too broad and abused by law enforcement to unjustly wrangle up people they feel are "undesirable".

Walk down any street in Toronto that has nightlife and there are many very obviously drunk people that do not get penalized. Whereas vulnerable, often homeless, people get swept up for similar behaviour.

I feel like "public intoxication" laws should be removed, and laws surrounding actual conduct (verbal/physical assault etc.) should remain. Having such a subjective law leaves way too much room for prejudice.

It’s funny in B.C. that there are more beaches where you can smoke crack then drink beer.

It can't be reliably enforced (drunkenness can, yes, but anyone can hide a drink), so it just sits there on the books to incriminate normal activities, and occasionally serve as useful tool for police to harass certain people.

You can drink beer and wine (not sure about spirits) in parks in Quebec as long as you have food. Some people just bring a few packets of chips or cookies to comply. But the police are relaxed about it (at least in Montreal)