Donation dilemma
Enterprise council takes money allocated for bursaries to give to Gateway Jamboree
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, July 14, 2014
ENTERPRISE
It took a 30-minute debate, but the council of the Hamlet of Enterprise has unanimously voted to financially support this year's Gateway Jamboree.
John Leskiw II: Enterprise mayor says hamlet is limited in how much it can donate by territorial legislation - |
However, the vote also meant no money would be left for any student who may be looking for a bursary from the hamlet this year.
At their meeting on July 7, councillors voted to move $4,000 allocated to student bursaries back into the donation fund.
"It does not appear we're going to need it this year," said Mayor John Leskiw II of funding for bursaries.
With the added bursary money, the Gateway Jamboree Society will get somewhere between $5,900 and $6,100.
It had been seeking $7,000.
During the lengthy and sometimes contentious debate, Leskiw noted the council is restricted by the Hamlets Act as to how much it can donate.
Under the act, only two per cent of unrestricted revenue - meaning not allocated to a specific program - from the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs can be used for donations.
However, Coun. Chaal Cadieux wondered why - with the strong financial status of the hamlet - money can't be found in some other way to support the jamboree.
"You read that Hamlets Act, there's plenty of things we could do," he said.
Plus, Cadieux noted there is a lot of community support for the event, which takes place each August.
When contacted after the meeting, Winnie Cadieux, the vice-president of the Gateway Jamboree Society, expressed thanks to the council for its financial support.
"We're happy with whatever they can provide," she said.
Cadieux said the society is aiming to raise $30,000 this year because it is looking to add new cultural events and other activities to the jamboree.
"We should come close to that," she said.
That will include $11,000 from the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, and the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Cadieux noted the society also has submitted other applications for funding and expects the usual good support from the business community.
During the council debate, the future status of the Gateway Jamboree was discussed, with many council members supporting the idea of both it and the volunteer-run Itsago dogsled races becoming community events, meaning they would be run by the hamlet.
Winnie Cadieux explained the jamboree began in 1999 and was run by the settlement office until about 2007 when the community became a hamlet.
The administration at that time didn't want to run the festival. That was when the society was formed and it has been running the jamboree ever since.
If the hamlet government returned to running the jamboree, more community funds would become available.
John McKee, interim senior administrative officer with the hamlet, said it would no longer be a matter of making a donation, just adjusting the budget to put in an expenditure from recreation and parks.
Coun. Jim Dives noted the hamlet could increase financial support for the jamboree only if it becomes a community-run event.
"The only way we could donate $20,000 to the jamboree is if there's no jamboree society and it's done by the community," he said.
"That's it in a nutshell."
