By Derek Cornet

Charities, non-profits should focus fundraising away from alcohol sales

Dec 11, 2018 | 4:00 PM

With La Ronge Council and others looking to reduce liquor consumption in the tri-communities, Dr. Peter Butt believes local organizations need to find other ways to raise funds without selling liquor.

“In regards to events that are trying to raise money for the community, it’s counter-productive if it decreases the health and well-being of people in the community,” he said. “This is where one has to think about other ways of raising money outside of selling liquor. This is part of the cultural shift that occurs when communities start looking at alcohol consumption, and the patterns and harms in their community.”

According to a survey undertaken by the Community Alcohol Management Plan committee, 61 per cent of respondents wanted to see the sale of alcohol prohibited at sporting events. At events where children are present, 72 per cent wanted to see it banned. When it comes to La Ronge Ice Wolves games, Butt said children seeing adults drinking at such places normalizes the consumption of alcohol.

Some organizations in La Ronge have already started the process of preventing normalization such as the Northlands College board of directors, who passed a motion in June to support students by encouraging a safe space for those who struggle with alcohol and discouraging alcohol at events. Throughout the tri-communities, there were also a number of dry events such as dances and programming by the Lac La Ronge Indian Band and the drive-in theatre fundraiser by the Elks Club.

“I think charities need to be thinking broader about the impact of their actions on the community as part of fundraising,” Butt said. “In many cultures, it’s considered to be poor taste to be drunk in public. That’s a sign of a person who is lacking in character if you will. That individual would be looked down upon and, unfortunately on frontier culture, that seems to be the norm.”

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La Ronge Deputy-Mayor Hugh Watt, who also sits on the board of directors for the Ice Wolves, said there was no proof serving alcohol in front of minors at sporting events is attributing to problems in La Ronge. He said if there are such facts available, the board would consider it, but there simply isn’t.

“We’ve never had a situation where we had to escort a drunk out of the rink,” Watt said. “How are we going to educate the youth if we prohibit alcohol at all of our events? How are the youth going to be educated, in a sense, in a controlled environment? They’re not.”

Meanwhile, Counc. Matt Klassen stated restricting alcohol at sporting and other charitable events is a “tricky subject,” adding there is a standard that has to met whether dealing with a non-profit or bar.

“From recommendations from legal advice and provincial authorities, we need to keep everyone on the same playing field,” he said. “To single out one organization such as a fundraiser group, it’s not a wise idea. We were advised to keep all the regulations all across the board.”

derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno