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Local News: Caribana may see change in organizers
In the eyes of Elsworth
James,
Caribana is more than
just a festival name, it’s a
jewel in the city. It represents
a culture’s history
and future.
But, James, chair of
public relations with the
Caribbean Cultural Committee
(CCC) — Caribana’s
official organizer
since 1967 — is “ready
to pull the plug” on
CCC’s fight to run this
year’s festival.
“My mind is all for
shutting down Caribana
this year,” says James.
The city pulled its
plug on Caribana funding
— $800,000 split
equally between the city
and the province —
when the financiallytroubled
CCC failed to
deliver a clean financial
audit on deadline.
Support is now behind
The Toronto Mas
Bands Association
(TMBA) to host the Toronto
Caribbean Carnival
this summer — as
TMBA did in 2002 when
Caribana was near bankruptcy.
“It’s the wrong path
and I know it will have
repercussions,” says
James. “There’s only one
festival in this city and
that‘s Caribana. Any
other is a mocking pretender.“
James admits there
were problems with the
audit, but insists the
city’s decision creates a
divide between two
groups representing the
same culture.
“This is the master divider,”
said James. “Taking
everything and having
us fighting against
each other.”
The CCC met last night
to discuss how it could
work with TMBA to keep
Caribana — which rakes
in hundreds of millions
of dollars for the city
each year — alive.
(Sophie Nicholls, 24 hours)
Posted on Saturday, April 15 @ 00:00:00 UTC by jcohen
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