Honestly, all I know about this issue is what I read in the CBC article (see below). If the article reports correctly, then I'll side with the City on this one. I do like the Dragon Boat races - they draw a crowd and it's fun to sail with all that cheering in the background. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to ride a dragon in an ice cold river without a lifejacket. If the organizers can't deal with very basic safety concerns, they deserve to lose their licence. I'm also not in favour of cutting down hundreds of trees for a temporary viewing area. This could lead to erosion problems and seems totally unnecessary. There are plenty of places to watch the races from. As for the motorboat request, I think the Dragon Boat folks are just wimpy. Sailing schools across the country are in awe of the fact that Glenmore Sailing School has managed to teach sailing to hundreds of people each year without giving the instructors motor boats. Yes, that's right, one instructor, 5-10 boats with students and the instructor sails around and teaches. I say if GSS can do it, then the Dragon Boat guys should have no difficulty running things without motor boats. I mean they are on a fixed race course in a very small area. How hard can it be?
City safety concerns dock dragon boat races
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 | 5:59 PM MT
CBC News
The city has revoked the permit for the annual Calgary Dragon Boat Festival, throwing the annual event into uncertainty.
Citing safety and environmental concerns, the city's recreation department pulled the permit for the Alberta Dragon Boat Race Foundation that has organized the races on the Glenmore reservoir since 1992.
The Alberta Dragon Boat Race Foundation has organized the races on the Glenmore reservoir since 1992.
(CBC)
"Things like not having enough life jackets for the participants that were in the race. Things like ambulance services not being able to get access to the reservoir if there was an accident," said Karen Young, a manager in the recreation department, Wednesday.
"We had unmanned lost-children's tents and first-aid tents, and we had some security issues with the beer gardens."
Young said the foundation also pushed for increased motorboat use on the water, as well as for the removal of 200 trees for a temporary viewing area.
The city has been trying to work out the issues with the foundation for the last two years, she said.
The city has given the foundation 60 days to remove its equipment and dragon boats from the reservoir.
(CBC)
Shawn Samol, head of the dragon boat foundation, accused the city of caving in to pressure from other groups.
"There's push-backs, maybe by other user groups saying that well, we don't think there's enough room for our endeavours and therefore we maybe don't want dragon boating around there," he said.
The cancellation of the permit means the foundation can no longer use the reservoir for racing or practising. Samol said he received news of the city's decision earlier this month and was given 60 days to remove about a dozen boats from the reservoir.
Teams raise money for charity
The event draws 50,000 spectators and 3,000 competitors every year, according to the foundation's website.
Several dragon boats in the annual event raise money for charity, including the Children's Wish Foundation, which received $40,000 from racers in 2007.
"In addition to the funds that were raised in 2007, these teams have been engaged with us for a number of years and we have seen significant windfall of revenue as a result of that support," said the charity's chapter director Jason Evanson.
The city said other community groups could take over running the dragon boat races, while Samol said he's working on finding a different venue.
2 comments:
A NEW ERA IN DRAGON BOATING FOR CALGARY! APPLAUDING THE CITY OF CALGARY'S ACTIONS...
I think that there has been a lot of mis-information going on with respect to the City's move to unseat the ADBRF as the organizers of Calgary's Dragon Boat Races.
This move is seen by many of the stakeholders as a very positive step in the evolution of dragon boating in Calgary, as the ADBRF had ceased to represent many of the key stakeholders in a community-spirited way, and as identified by the city, mis-management of community safety issues and lack of insightful stewardship were rife. Governance of the organization had also been called under question on many occasions dating back to 2003, with several long-standing directors of the organization unilaterally voted off of the board by the current leadership (or that of the time), denying the organization of any sense of checks and balances with respect to issues such as potential conflict of interest, mis-use of assets, community benefit etc.
I would suggest that questions need to be asked of the ADBRF about the integrity of their board governance (most organizations would welcome scrutiny of this to protect their good name and objectives), use of assets for non-arms length "for profit" ventures, transparency of finances, inclusion of key stakeholders in the molding of the event etc.
I can very confidently state that in addition to the City of Calgary, many key stakeholders including some of the longest standing dragon boat clubs, the Chinese Community, the business community and the original founders of the event are ecstatic about the move by the city to protect the community interest and to usher in a new community-spirited era of Dragon Boating within the city of Calgary and region.
The news media has potentially portrayed the City as the bad guy, when in fact they should be lauded for their protection of community interests. Oddly much of the coverage has been one-sided - controversy is news, a positive outcome from the controversy less so. Rest assured, the paddlers and any potentially affected charities will benefit from the changes in the long
run.
"Paddles Up" as they say....and let's look forward to a bright and exciting future of the event and sport within the city of Calgary!
Having worked under the "leadership" of the ADBRF, I am surprised it took this long for the whole thing to fall apart. I am glad the city has taken action to get this defunct and incestuous organization off of the water and out of the way of real athletes who will represent the sport as it should be.
The next developments will be in the collapses of the new endeavors of the ADBRF due to the notorious misuse of organization finance and free alcohol.
Hopefully the sponsors show up one day and realize the embarrassment their companies face when the bottom falls out.
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