 | E-mail this story |  | Write letter to editor |  | Order a classified ad |
| E-mail this story | | Write letter to editor | | Order a classified ad |
 Members of the board
|
That's because the Caribou Carnival executive committee decided to cut their losses this week -- meaning for the first time since 1955 there will be no carnival.
Carnival organizers say they hope the carnival will be back next year, but this year's cancellation is only the culmination of at least three years of major problems.
Last year's carnival was marked by low attendance, while the 2001 carnival made national headlines with the prospect of having two queens -- Christiane Boyd and Gisele Forget -- after a ticket-selling bonanza that turned into a dogfight between the two finalists, with Boyd out-selling Forget by a handful of tickets.
Sasseville only came into the job last December after former president Bernie Bauhaus stepped down, saying he simply didn't have time to dedicate to the event. Other committee members have come and gone.
"We needed to decide a cut-off point and today is the day," Sasseville said on Wednesday, after a meeting of the volunteer board determined they didn't have enough community support to carry on this year. It was scheduled to run March 28-30.
"Caribou Carnival is a large-scale event and we need more than the seven or eight people who are involved on the board and two volunteers to put this together."
According to Cindy Rowe, treasurer for the NMI Mobility Canadian Championship Dog Derby, however, the race at least is still on.
Sasseville said they need a minimum of 50 to 60 volunteers to make the event a success. Last Sunday, only two showed up for a scheduled meeting.
She said it's not like Yellowknife lacks community spirit, but rather people's volunteer time is being stretched too thin.
"I believe that the problem in Yellowknife right now is there's more jobs than people," said Sasseville. "Everyone is just busy and tapped out."
The same weekend the Western Canadian cross-country ski championships and volleyball tourney are taking place in town.
The problems don't just end with a lack of volunteers, she said. Carnival participants, like the Yellowknife Snowboarders' Association and the SPCA dog show, have pulled out, and not enough people are running for Caribou King and Queen. To date, only two have entered for the queen's job, and one for king, tentatively.
Their role in the carnival is important because they provide a yearly injection of cash through raffle ticket sales.
The board was considering shortening the carnival this year to one day but it was decided that such a move would be haphazard at best.
Distressing news
Obviously, word of the carnival's cancellation this year was met with sadness and shock.
"That's very distressing news," said David Grindlay, executive director of the NWT Tourism Association. "It is very clearly one of the things we try to push as far as our winter product is concerned."
Grindlay said the carnival is featured prominently on the association's winter tourism marketing packages every year.
"What we need is more and more product not less and less," said Grindlay.
Michel Lefebvre, president of the Association Franco-Culturelle de Yellowknife, said he can't remember a year the local French community wasn't involved with the carnival. There will be no cabane a sucre (maple syrup on snow) this year -- at least not at the Caribou Carnival.
"The biggest thing that attracts our volunteers is the cabane a sucre," said Lefebvre. "It's been here the nine years I've been here."
City councillors Dave McCann and Robert Hawkins said the issue will be an important one for council next week.
"Those of us that care better talk about it quick," said McCann. "I'd rather have a smaller event and call it Caribou Carnival, rather than admit, 'No, we didn't have Caribou Carnival due to a lack of interest.'"
Will volunteers step forward, please
Mayor Gord Van Tighem, however, believes the show will still go on.
"It's not in my mind yet that it's not happening," said Van Tighem. "They don't have financial problems, they don't have venue problems, they don't have facility problems, what they have is people problems."
Sasseville conceded that if an outpouring of public support were to occur over the next few days it may yet save this year's carnival, but the numbers of supporters will have to be large.
