The lack of a medical facility has led to the cancellation of this year’s Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival, just three weeks before it was set to take place.
The CNUF board made the announcement in a press release, Thursday evening, noting the festival site itself was not affected by the flooding
The decision was made after the board consulted with the City of Dauphin, Rural Municipality of Dauphin, MLA Ron Kostyshyn, MP Dan Mazier and its insurance provider.
Third vice-president Cory Lafontaine said they began discussing the prospects of cancelling the festival when Prairie Mountain Health announced it would be closing the Dauphin Regional Health Centre.
“We came to the realization that we’re not so sure we can have a festival without a hospital,” he said, adding that was when they consulted the various government entities, as well as the insurance provider.
“We wanted some direction and what their thoughts were in continuing with the festival. And after that meeting, we came to realize that we weren’t so sure that we can have a festival if we don’t have a hospital,” Lafontaine said.
The biggest concern, Lafontaine added, was the number of festival patrons who are elderly, as well as families.
“And you just want to make sure if anybody gets hurt on the festival site, that they’re covered. We’re not confident that putting them in an ambulance and sending them 30 kilometres away is the best choice,” he said.
Lafontaine said they wanted to make sure they had proper insurance for the festival and weren’t sure they would if they continued with the festival, which is why they had the insurance provider in the discussion.
“We would be bringing in another 3,000 to 4,000 people to our community, already strained with limited urgent and emergency care. That’s putting a tremendous amount of pressure on the those two temporary rural emergency healthcare centers 30 plus minutes away,” he said.
“Of course, it makes sense to cancel or postpone our festival, until we are confident we have the appropriate care and services to accommodate our patrons, as well as our local residents. It’s very unfortunate we have to cancel, but our festival needs to be safe, for everyone who attends.”
The board, Lafontaine said, was overwhelmed with support from the dance groups and performers who were set to hit the stage at this year’s festival.
“They’re all reaching out to us and saying they support us and support our decision. And I think most of them are prepared to come back next year to put on a heck of a great show,” he said.
“They realize that the decision that we made is in the best interest of the community. It’s funny, we put the community first before we put the festival first this year, because it’s important to keep our community safe. We’re just not so sure that if we had a festival, not only under a state of emergency, but without a hospital is the best decision to make. We want to make sure our patrons are, first and foremost, safe in our environment.”
Those who purchased tickets or camping passes to this year’s event can ask for a refund or roll them over to next year’s festival.
“The nice thing about that is if they do roll over to next year, they’re going to get this year’s price. We understand that there will be some people wanting refunds and we’re going to make sure we accommodate them, as well,” Lafontaine said, adding they will have that information on their website at cnuf.ca and their Facebook page as soon as they can.
“We really wanted to have a festival this year, but without having a hospital in our own back yard to provide the service, it’s just not going to be feasible. We’re not so sure that having emergency services 30 minutes away is going to help us out,” he said.
“Our hearts remain with everyone that’s been affected.”