INUVIK
Town council is set to vote on whether to allow the Muskrat Jamboree to host a bingo the same day a mega bingo is scheduled during the weekend festivities.
The jamboree organizing committee has put in an application to the town asking that it be allowed to host an afternoon bingo on March 28, a few hours before the Inuvik Figure Skating Club is set to host a $20,000 mega bingo.
However, Paul McDonald, who organizes the club's bingo events throughout the year, said it isn't fair to allow a group that missed the application deadline to draw money away from a group that met the deadline.
"It would take away from our group's fundraising," he said during council's committee of the whole meeting on Feb. 23. "I support the jamboree but I also have to look out for my kids. It's sad they missed the intake date but we only get so many days to fundraise and it concerns me that we could have two bingos in one community on the same day.
"We followed due process and to have that money be taken away from us is frustrating."
McDonald said that the club would be out thousands of dollars if there is a competing bingo on the same day. The money will go towards purchasing new safety equipment for the club's skaters - much of which hasn't been updated since the 1990s.
It was suggested by McDonald that the jamboree run multiple regular bingo events throughout the year to make up for the missed mega bingo, which nets the longstanding festival nearly $30,000 every year.
The special circumstance arose after the jamboree failed to submit its application to the town's lottery licensing committee early last year to secure a date for its own mega bingo, typically held during the four-day festivities in town.
Initially, the town wasn't certain it could do anything about the missed application. However, after consulting with the town's legal department, it was determined that a regular bingo could be granted special permission by council.
Town bylaws state a second bingo can be granted by town council if it "is satisfied that the duration of the event and the number of people anticipated to take part in the event justifies more than one bingo being held in the town."
Grant Hood, senior administrative officer, said the town had spoken to its lawyer, who advised that the town couldn't approve a second mega bingo, as requested by the jamboree committee in a letter to the town dated Feb. 13.
A mega bingo is awarded when the total sum of prize money exceeds $10,000 or more. A regular bingo would be less than $10,000.
Children's First Society and the figure skating club hold the two mega bingo licences for the Friday and Saturday nights, respectively. Bernice Furlong, who sits on the organizing committee for the jamboree, said they had approached the society about working together, however, they weren't willing to go against any of the bylaws.
"Some people don't want to sit and watch the races, and we really need to raise a lot of money," said jamboree chairperson Greta Sittichinli.
Furlong urged the council to vote in favour of the second bingo, if not for the jamboree but for the Inuvik Youth Centre, which will be given a portion of the money raised during the bingo.
"Every year we donate funds to a group in the community," she said. "We heard they were having a tough time so we wanted to help. We give back as much as we take."
Council was set to vote on the bingo licence request on Wednesday night.
