Iqaluit council votes narrowly to help Carrefour fundraiser

Iqaluit children bounce and frolic inside one of the City of Iqaluit’s jumpy castles at a recent Canada Day celebration. Carrefour Nunavut wants to use one to help raise money for a bid to get a popular Quebec TV show, “La Petite Seduction,” to shoot an episode in Iqaluit and potentially boost tourism. (PHOTO BY JM BELL)

Francois Fortin of Carrefour Nunavut makes a pitch to city council May 26 to let the organization use their jumpy castle for free. (PHOTO BY LISA GREGOIRE)

Iqaluit city councillors didn’t quite jump at the idea, but after bouncing it around for a while, they voted narrowly to do a favour for Carrefour Nunavut in the hope of increasing Iqaluit’s profile in Quebec.

François Fortin appeared before city councillors May 26 to ask for permission to use the city’s rentable jumpy castles for free, or at a reduced rate, for a fundraising event at the Arctic Winter Games Complex June 7.

After slashing several items from the agenda, and in the absence of other more pressing issues, councillors gave the issue more than ample debate and in the end, voted three to two in favour of letting Carrefour use one inflatable for free.

Here’s why.

Carrefour Nunavut, the Iqaluit-based francophone economic development organization, is trying to get Iqaluit featured on the popular Quebec-based Radio-Canada TV show “La Petite Seduction.”

Each week, the show invites a celebrity to “discover a small rural town in a very special way,” says the website.

Townsfolk, through a series of events and adventures, do their best to “seduce” the celebrity into choosing their town as the best place to live in Canada.

Fortin, who appeared before council on behalf of Carrefour, said the celebrity will be Louis-Jean Cormier, a well-known Quebec singer-songwriter and a judge from the TVA networks’s “La Voix,” the francophone version of “The Voice.”

But in order to seduce Cormier, Carrefour and its group of volunteers must raise money to organize and put on events when he’s in town.

So they’re holding a family day fundraiser June 7 at the AWG arena with games, prize draws, face-painting, barbecued food items and, they hoped, a bouncy castle or two.

Since the organization is already paying the city for the lobby and turf rental at the AWG, they hoped they could get the inflatable for free rather than the usual $500 fee.

Fortin said he thought the event could raise between $700 and $2,000, depending on how many people show up.

“I support this. It brings everyone together. Children bring people together. Good stuff,” said Coun. Noah Papatsie.

Coun. Stephen Mansell put forward a motion to allow Carrefour to use one inflatable at no charge, provided staff were available that day to be present, as is required for its use.

But when it came time to discuss the motion, Coun. Romeyn Stevenson said that while he supports Carrefour’s efforts, the city can’t simply waive the fee for everyone who comes asking, otherwise they’d never make any money.

Coun. Terry Dobbin said forgoing the fee was a small price to pay to help Iqaluit get featured on the popular TV show.

“I see the economic benefit a lot more than the $500 in revenue the city would lose,” he said.

When it came time to vote, Mansell, Dobbin and Papatsie voted in favour and Joanasie Akumalik along with Stevenson voted against. The motion carried.

Carrefour also hopes to revive a signpost that shows the direction and distance to various cities around the world. Iqaluit used to have one, but it was vandalized, Fortin said.

When they’re done with using it for filming, they plan to donate it to the city.

Fortin also inquired about using Iqaluit’s only limousine to ferry Cormier around when he’s in town.

But the white stretch limo is not currently road-worthy and, since there’s no designation in the city’s taxi bylaw for limousines, the company would only be able to charge what it costs to rent a taxi: $70 an hour

In an interview with Nunatsiaq News in April, the limo’s owner, Michel Gilbert, said at that paltry sum, it wasn’t worth it to get it up and running.

Coun. Mansell told Fortin that if the owner wanted to make a pitch to council, they’d have to do it directly, not through a third party.

Carrefour’s family fun day will run from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on June 7, at the AWG complex. Food, games and prizes will be on offer. All are welcome to attend.