Peter Jeffrey has been organizing his local Canada Day parade in East Hants, New Zealand, for 25 years, but says rising costs and declining community support have stopped the event this year.
The parade usually runs from Elmsdale to Enfield, N.C., where the festivities continue at the Lions Club, said Jeffrey, the area branch president.
“The parade itself takes a lot of planning and there’s quite a bit of expense involved,” Jeffrey said. “Over the years it’s evolved to what we had right before COVID.”
Jeffrey said financial support has been declining for years and fewer and fewer volunteers have stepped up to help organize and run the event.
Jeffrey said the fireworks were the Lions Club’s biggest Canada Day expense, about $4,000. (Enfield, Elmsdale & District Lions Club/Facebook)
“At the end of the day, it was just us trying to get things together,” he said, adding that federal government funding hasn’t increased because the cost of the celebrations — from fireworks to insurance — has skyrocketed.
A new federal funding requirement that ensured the event would happen led Jeffrey to suspend the event last fall, he said.
Other cities, cities in the same place
Jeffrey is not alone. Several cities say rising costs and funding issues are causing them to rethink their parades.
Montreal will not have a Canada Day parade for the third year in a row. Canada Day celebrations will take place with events in the Old Harbour.
In Strathcona County, Alta., Sherwood Park and the area chamber of commerce announced in May that the Canada Day parade would not take place as a result of increased costs for physical infrastructure, insurance and security obligations.
The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority will not hold a parade or fireworks, citing “rising costs for safety and security and throughout the events industry,” adding that it will instead focus on other events.
Banff, Alta., decided to replace its parade with a day of activities and performances.
Some are taking a new approach
Last year, many cities chose to cancel Canada Day events after the discovery of unmarked graves at the sites of former dormitories. While most events are resuming this year, some cities, such as Winnipeg and Thunder Bay, Ontario, have chosen to mark Canada Day with cultural programs instead of festive events like parades and fireworks.
Halifax is partnering with the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Center and local artists to host “Kana’ta-HFX Canada Day 2022,” which the city says will honor the indigenous community. The Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo will host its Canada Day parade.
Jeffrey said he hopes the Elmsdale-Enfield parade will be held again next year.
“We don’t want to see this event die,” he said.
He said planning for next year’s event would need to start in August to secure funding from the federal government.
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