A Sanikiluaq daycare fears it may close in months after losing its Saturday night bingo, leaving it at odds with the hamlet government which revoked its licence this fall.
The Najuqsivik Daycare risks closure if the hamlet does not restore its Saturday bingo licence, which supplements the cost of basic building operations, according to board members.
In the last two years, the hamlet began operating multiple weekly bingos, eventually issuing itself a licence for a Saturday night operation.
Najuqsivik Daycare argues the hamlet is penalizing them for pointing out the conflicting licences and falsely claiming that the daycare did not submit its financial statements, wrote treasurer Tim Hoyt in a letter to the municipality.
In a Sept. 1 Facebook announcement, the hamlet said it would hold four bingos a week until Jan. 31.
Hoyt pointed out that the bingo conflicted with the daycareSA国际影视传媒檚 Saturday licence. The hamlet notified the daycare in an Aug. 30 letter that it was cancelling its licences and fining $5000 for operating three Chase the Ace lotteries and a large ticket bingo with a $10,000 prize without listing it on their licence application.
Losing the daycare could put the families of 12 infants and 16 toddlers in bind to find trustworthy, affordable and reliable childcare, said board member Liza Appaqaq in an interview.
SA国际影视传媒淪tudents put their children through daycare so that they can complete high school,SA国际影视传媒� said Appaqaq.
SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檓 very angry because they could have let us know if we were doing something wrong. It seems like we didnSA国际影视传媒檛 do anything wrong. We just want our one day lottery licence back,SA国际影视传媒� she said.
The hamlet asked the daycare to apply for a licence on Monday, when board members cannot volunteer, or on Wednesday when the community has church and would be averse to a lottery, state letters to the hamlet.
The daycare earns approximately $80,000 per year through its Saturday bingo. Two daycares, their maintenance, light and heat are subsidized by the bingo proceeds, said Appaqaq.
SA国际影视传媒淲e have hope. We have to have hope. I wouldnSA国际影视传媒檛 be able to work if we didnSA国际影视传媒檛 have a daycare,SA国际影视传媒� she said, adding that she has two small babies and that her own mother works.
SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檓 really worried about the students not being able to go to school. My sister just graduated from high school last year. She would not have been able to attend school if not for daycare,SA国际影视传媒� she said.
On Sept. 5 the NajuqsivikSA国际影视传媒檚 board chair Annesie Appaqaq wrote a letter to the municipality to stating that the senior administrative officer (SAO) made factual errors and assigned fines without an opportunity to correct the alleged violations nor did it seek additional information.
SA国际影视传媒�(The bylaw) applies to organizations operating a SA国际影视传媒榣icensed premise.SA国际影视传媒� As you are well aware, we operate a daycare, not a bar,SA国际影视传媒� wrote Annesie Appaqaq.
The Nunavut Lottery Act does not require licences for 50/50 draws and cannot be subject to a fine, unless the daycare is convicted of an offense, she wrote.
SA国际影视传媒淲e certainly hope that this was an honest mistake made out of ignorance and not an attempt to bully or punish the Daycare because of your dislike of individual board members,SA国际影视传媒� she wrote.
A 2018 statement of account shows that the daycare brought in a net revenue of $38,362 and $82,215 for bingo and Nevada pull tickets respectively.
Sanikiluaq is the only municipality in Nunavut with the authority for the SAO, instead of Community and Government Services (CGS), to issue licences.
In a formal complaint to CGS, Hoyt said the hamlet does not have any definition of 50/50 in its bylaws.
The municipality is revisiting its 20-year-old bylaw, which SA国际影视传媒渄oes not address 50/50s directly,SA国际影视传媒� said SAO Michael Rowan in an email.
The municipality is working with legal counsel to implement the Ontario Alcohol and Gaming Commission's definition of 50/50.
SA国际影视传媒淭here is a division of opinion about whether or not a 50/50 qualifies as a raffle or not SA国际影视传媒� we are interpreting it as a raffle with a cash prize,SA国际影视传媒� wrote Rowan.
Additional lottery events are taking place to deal with SA国际影视传媒渞emaining cost-recovery of the Elders Gathering,SA国际影视传媒� he said.
SA国际影视传媒淭o a degree this is anticipated to monopolize the available days for a few months,SA国际影视传媒� he wrote, adding that the daycare never submitted financial statements for Chase The Ace.
The daycare feared reprisal, the cancellation of its lottery licence or refusal to approve future lottery licences, wrote Hoyt in a November 2017 complaint to CGS.
Hoyt alleges the hamlet conducts bingos with SA国际影视传媒渓ittle oversight and accountability,SA国际影视传媒� and pays its volunteers.
SA国际影视传媒淲hen we made this specific complaint to the SAO ... (they) threatened to withhold school breakfast funds if the Daycare didnSA国际影视传媒檛 SA国际影视传媒榤ind their own business,SA国际影视传媒橲A国际影视传媒� he wrote.
A Sept. 6 complaint to the CGS asks for an investigation into SA国际影视传媒渁buse of powerSA国际影视传媒� by the Sanikiluaq SAO and says its fear the daycare would be retaliated against was SA国际影视传媒渨ell-founded.SA国际影视传媒�
It asks for the cancellation of the municipalitySA国际影视传媒檚 delegated authority because it SA国际影视传媒渓acks the capacity to properly manage lottery licences and the SAO is abusing his delegated power under the Act,SA国际影视传媒� wrote Hoyt.
On Sept. 7, the municipality responded to a letter from the daycare, stating that its allegations were SA国际影视传媒渕ischaracterizations.SA国际影视传媒�
The Mayor and Council agreed to waive the fines and asks that the daycare submit their application for a Monday lottery, the letter states.
