Warning: This is really really really long.
Just received this in my email last night. To ensure a fair interpretation, this is obviously the ADBRF's view on events.
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ALBERTA DRAGON BOAT RACE FOUNDATION
PO BOX 22416 • CALGARY, AB • T2P 5G7
PHONE: (403) 216-0145 • FAX: (403) 286-6810
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Dear Paddlers, Participants & Supporters;
As you are aware, the Alberta Dragon Boat Race Foundation (ADBRF) has had its License of Occupation revoked and with it all practice sessions on the Glenmore Reservoir. The City of Calgary has also taken away from the ADBRF the opportunity of running and operating the 2008 Calgary Dragon Boat Race & Festival. According to the many newspaper, radio and television interviews, the opportunity is being brought forward to another group that the city had been in discussions with long before we were informed of this very unfortunate news.
After we had sent out our last letter to inform everyone of this recent development, the amount of e-mails and letters of support for our organization has been overwhelming. Besides getting many letters and e-mails of support, we have been getting inquiries as to how this could have happened. The following is a synopsis of events that have taken place over the last 4 years.
Since the inception of the ADBRF in July of 1992, the premise of the Calgary race and festival was to have a Chinese cultural event with dragon boat racing as a central aspect of the festival. At the beginning, there were few competitive teams that practiced more than three times prior to the races. As time progressed, the event started to lose its appeal with just over forty teams registering in 2003. This is approximately the time that the more established teams were asking for more practices and better race operations. Complaints as to how teams were being treated and the lack of respect from some of the coaches were common occurrences. It was prior to the 2004 event that the ADBRF went into high gear to improve all aspects of dragon boating in Calgary.
The early spring of 2003 was the first step towards the positive growth of dragon boating in the Calgary area since the inception of the event. In the spring of 2003 we managed to convince the City of Calgary to increase the allowance of dragon boats for the purpose of practicing on the Glenmore Reservoir from 4 boats to 6 boats. As per the letter from the city to the ADBRF confirming this expansion to our practice program, it was required in the letter of permission that the 2 additional boats fall under the directions and control of our society’s current agreement with the City of Calgary. This expansion of the practice fleet allowed us to improve availability of practice times for all the teams wanting to participate in the Calgary Dragon Boat Races as well as other events throughout Alberta and any where else in the world.
It wasn’t until the fall of 2004 that the ADBRF approached the city to enter into a longer term ‘License of Occupation’ at the Calgary Reservoir. The city was in agreement with this as long as this was done in conjunction with the renewal of the Calgary Canoe Club and Calgary Rowing Club leases. The city wanted all three leases to be signed simultaneously so as to encourage a sharing of resources and assets. One of the assets that was on the table to be shared was the Canoe & Rowing Club Building which met with resistance from both user groups as they claim that they were out of room, even though one of the floors of this building had been vacant due to mould for many years. It was suggested by City of Calgary Recreation Department that all parties look at the architecture of the existing structure to figure out some modifications to allow everyone to live under one roof. These initial discussions and negotiations didn’t seem to move along until it was suggested by the ADBRF to build their own storage/club house facility. Our request to do so was in October of 2004. This suggestion was put forward to both the Canoe and Rowing Clubs as an olive branch to move discussions along and prove to everyone that we did not have to be perceived as a threat. The concept would allow the Canoe and Rowing Clubs, to not be disrupted and at the same time would allow the current finish line (made out of carcinogenic wood preservatives and in need of repair) to be rebuilt and integrated into an ADBRF facility. This concept was accepted by the city and eventually allowed all parties to move forward with talks and a tentative agreement that was agreed upon in principal in the spring of 2006. Unfortunately the person representing the Canoe & Rowing Clubs resigned for personal reasons prior to signing. This is when new representatives of the Canoe and Rowing Clubs came forward and talks once again came to a grinding halt. Please note that during this process more than $75,000.00 in costs had been incurred by the ADBRF to produce blueprints for a development permit from the City of Calgary, for our proposed structure. These costs were incurred after we were given the go ahead (by the city) to apply for the development permit in 2005. Not only were we given the go ahead in writing but it also included the statement that we would have our long term lease in place sometime in 2005.
The talks between all the user groups came to a halt when a former alderman of the area was invited to speak at a Calgary Canoe Club and Calgary Rowing Club meeting. It was at this meeting when the governance of the ADBRF was put into question. Just this insinuation alone delayed any lease negotiation process even further. It wasn’t until we could provide proof from the ADBRF’s lawyer to the City of Calgary’s lawyer that we were adhering to proper governance that we were once again able to move forward with lease negotiations. After this delay it was confirmed by the City of Calgary’s legal department that we had a clean bill of health and that we were conforming to all rules and regulations under the law.
When the tentative agreement to move forward with a long term lease with all three user groups and the City of Calgary fell apart in the spring of 2006, the city decided to assign someone to our file whose job was to try and bring all the parties back together. This person met many times with all three user groups over the following year. One of the exercises that each group had to submit to her was a statement of interest that outlined each user group’s position as we continued forward with talks. These statements of interests were distributed to all three user groups so as to understand what each other’s position as the process continued. This is when it was made clear to the ADBRF that the Calgary Canoe Club and the Calgary Rowing Club felt that dragon boating was not a compatible partner at the North Glenmore Park location. As the city indicated that there was nowhere else for us to go, this could only be translated into not being compatible with the other user groups on the reservoir. Even after being informed of the Canoe and Rowing Clubs caustic position, the ADBRF still went into a joint venture situation with the Canoe Club to move forward with the junior program. This was once again an olive branch to demonstrate the ADBRF’s willingness to work with other user groups and show that the sharing of assets can work in everyone’s best interest.
After going nowhere for almost 5 months the ADBRF had become frustrated and made an official request in October of 2006 for binding arbitration to bring all negotiations to completion. At first the city did not want to hold any form of arbitration but eventually in March of 2007, the city coordinated mediation between all three user groups and the City of Calgary for an operational agreement for the 2007 season. It was also the hope of the city that this document would be renewed and adopted as a long-standing agreement between all parties. The mediation was successful and an agreement was signed on April 30, 2007 by all parties, as well as the City of Calgary.
A very disturbing situation also occurred in the late fall of 2006 that was brought to our attention in the spring of 2007. This was when we found out that 2 special interest groups went behind the ADBRF’s back to break off 2 of our practice boats out from under our practice umbrella. In any situation where you have a body of water that doesn’t have boat restrictions this would be inconsequential, but in a situation where the maximum number of dragon boats allowed on the reservoir is 6, this represents 1/3 of the practice fleet. Since the end of the 2005 season, our administrators had been working diligently to put together a practice schedule that would give a level of fairness to all teams. What was more disturbing then the 2 special interest groups trying to get their own user group status was that the city let them even though we have written confirmation that there would never be another user group (other then the ADBRF) representing dragon boating on the reservoir. This was outlined earlier in this document. Regardless of this lack of judgment on the city’s part, we continued to try and work with these special interest groups to maximize practice times and come up with an interim agreement that included the ADBRF being contacted monthly regarding their schedules so as to use their vacant practice slots. The only problem with this deal that the city brokered was that the ADBRF would not be able to float 2 additional boats that would be used when the other 2 groups weren’t using theirs and nor was the ADBRF able to use the other 2 groups boats. Once again the city was ineffective in solving a problem that they created.
Shortly after the mediation process, the city assigned an outside auditor to audit our 2006 books and once again do governance audit. At the completion of this audit the outside auditor had a list of suggestions to improve our governance and prevent us from possible risks in the future. Within weeks of receiving this report and the suggestions regarding our governance, the ADBRF implemented all the suggestions put forward by the outside auditor. This is documented in the ADBRF minutes of June 11, 2007. The ADBRF then forwarded this to the city as well as the outside auditor to seek everyone’s (city and outside auditor) approval. The outside auditor sent us a letter on June 15, 2007 acknowledging the adoption of their recommendations and reiterated that their recommendations only pointed out possible future risks and that in no way did they insinuate impropriety. It was also noted by the outside auditor that “many not-for-profit organizations have similar issues and as long as changes to policies and processes are implemented the risks to the organization will be considerably diminished’”.
During the 2007 year we were also dealing with the organization of the 2007 event. For whatever reason, what had been an 8 page application in previous years had grown into over 160 pages. Every time we made a submission we were asked for further information. We completely understand and accept that in order to constantly improve on an event one must expand on its policies, but when we continually answered pages of questions hoping that there was an end in sight, further pages of questions appeared. We were eventually told by the City of Calgary Event Planning Department that for whatever reason our event was being looked at under a microscope. This was somewhat confusing as we had run and operated this event for 15 years and were complemented by most of the various city departments at the 2006 event post mortem. Regardless, the city finally gave us our permit the week of the event. We also never received a post mortem meeting after the 2007 event as we had in previous years. We can only imagine that we weren’t going to get the opportunity to run the event again or some other group(s) was working with the city to undermine our efforts. An important item that also must be brought to everyone’s attention is that our 2007 budget was scrutinized many times by the City of Calgary. Why so many times we are not sure, but it has come to our attention that when the city was contacted by the ‘Calgary Parks Foundation Grant’ administrators to confirm the city’s commitment to the ADBRF on a longer term basis (5 years or more) the city did not confirm their support. This is why we did not receive this available grant ($70,000) for our ‘Start Line Apparatus’ and were forced to debt finance this piece of equipment over a 3 year period. It is very disturbing that in the many times the city looked over our 2007 budget that they did not point out that we may not want to finance the SLA as they had no intention of renewing our License of Occupation, our lease nor the permit to host the 2008 race and festival.
After the event and up until hearing the news of February 5, 2008, the ADBRF had tried to get a hold of the city to discuss the 2008 season and event. Either people were sick or new people were being assigned as our liaison. It is now clear as to what the city had planned. Over the last week there has been a firestorm of press and interviews that both the City of Calgary and the ADBRF has attended. All of the reasons and accusations by the City of Calgary are either distorted, not in context or outright incorrect. Some of the items that come to mind include:
1. Not having enough lifejackets – We have more than enough lifejackets and nobody is allowed on a boat unless they are wearing one. As most paddlers know, every couple of years (and a total of 3 times over the last 5 years) we have had a regional (or in the case of 2007) a national division. For this division we receive a lifejacket exemption from the city. 2007 was no exception for receiving this exemption for this division.
2. Environmental concerns – In 2007 we asked the city if we could put our viewing bleachers in a different location. This location had small trees and scrub grass that would have been in the way. Parks was consulted for an opinion and the request was declined. We then went back to our initial layout and no further discussion took place. How can inquiries by an organization become environmental concerns?
3. Damage to the park – Every year after the event we have an inspection of the site. This year we had a rut on the grass that was created by the vendors and caused by all the rain during the 2007 event. This rut was approximately 6 inches deep 1 foot wide and 15 feet long. We were charged $500 for its repair and told otherwise that the site was fine. Last time we checked the rut was never repaired even though we paid for the city to do so. Please note that the city Parks Department has been wonderful in previous years and this in no way is a slight towards them. It is just another maddening example of causing financial hardship towards the ADBRF.
4. The city said we were part of a failed mediation process they implemented and that they claim had failed – The mediation process was requested by the ADBRF and was successful in that it provided an operational plan for all three user groups (ADBRF, Calgary Canoe Club and the Calgary Rowing Club)
5. The ADBRF did not implement any suggestions by the outside auditor – The ADBRF implemented all the suggestions of the outside auditor within weeks. We also adopted the changes into our by-laws, which was done and distributed to the city.
6. Governance issues – The ADBRF has had many governance reviews and none of them have failed. We were requested to have a full audit 30 days after the event and another at year end. We chose to change our year end to accommodate the City and reduce our costs. The audit cost close to $30,000.00 and was never even considered in their decision. How many times must an organization have governance reviews in order to have a clean bill of health?
7. Lack of Security in the Beer/Beverage Garden – The ADBRF had paid for all the security required by the City of Calgary Police and at no time did the attending police officers bring up any concerns.
8. Children in the beer gardens – the permit was for an all age beverage garden. All alcohol purchases required ID when asked. The concept of an all age’s beverage garden was to allow families to sit together.
The ADBRF isn’t perfect; but in its current state it runs more efficiently and effectively than it ever has. The ADBRF has constantly improved the event by providing new equipment and keeping our old equipment in a state of good repair even though we only have rusty old storage containers at our disposal that leak rusty water onto our equipment and stain our lifejackets. We have also (as outlined in this letter) been protecting the best interests of all dragon boat paddlers in Calgary by trying to obtain long term leases with the city. We have made reference to other user groups in this letter to try and explain how the chain of events have transpired and have not intended to put the Calgary Canoe Club nor the Calgary Rowing Club in a bad light. They are both important user groups in the City of Calgary just as is the Alberta Dragon Boat Race Foundation. We believe that the hearts of both of these user groups have truly wanted to work with the ADBRF in coming up with solutions as any problems arise; but it has been the city of Calgary’s lack of guidance or fair decision making that has inevitably caused a majority of everyone’s existing problems. We have also tried to explain the chain of events since late 2003 with the utmost accuracy and can back everything up with hardcopy letters and e-mails.
The most recent decisions from the city are not a result of the 2007 event but a smoke screen that they hope will hide the true issues and reasons for going after a legitimate and community based not-for-profit. If they are allowed to take the ADBRF out of the equation at the Calgary Reservoir, it will be a sad day for all dragon boat paddlers. It will be a situation where the city will not be able to fairly provide accessibility to all teams and unfortunately only special interest groups will be able to meet their dragon boat practice goals.
It is now more important than ever that all teams band together and support the ADBRF as it has supported them in the past. Do not believe that another group will fight as hard for the rights of paddlers as the ADBRF has.
Once again we are looking for the support of the Dragon Boat Community to contact the Alderman of Ward #11, Brian Pincott, and request that the ADBRF continue to run the annual dragon boat festival and more importantly, continue with its License of Occupation that provides practice time for all teams in a fair fashion. We would also ask that you send us a cc. of your support. The address and e-mail of Alderman Pincott are as follows:
Brian Pincott
Alderman Offices
P.O. Box 2100, Stn. M,
Calgary, Alberta T2P 2M5
Or
E-mail: Brian Pincott Ward # 11
[email protected]Please note that everyone will be contacted and invited to an open forum team liaison meeting. This will take place closer to the end of March. Thank you for your ongoing support.
Sincerely,
The Directors of the Alberta Dragon Boat Race Foundation
