This Saturday's Santa Claus parade could be the last one to roll through the downtown as policing costs and a lack of sponsors are putting the annual non-profit event in jeopardy.
Organized by a small group of volunteers, the parade which is now in its 63rd year, operates on a shoestring budget. Those financial pressures hit a new high this year when parade organizers learned they would now have to cover the cost associated with policing the route.
"This is probably the toughest year out of all the years I have done the parade," said Shaun Merton, the parade’s executive director. "We have had years where we were tight for money, but this year between the construction downtown, policing costs, and the struggle to recruit new volunteers it has been really hard."
The London Police Service announced in January that it would begin charging for crowd and traffic control and security at all community events due to its own budget constraints and greater demand for service. On average, London police get requests to patrol 100 community events annually.
According to Merton, the figure originally quoted to him to cover policing ate up 70 per cent of the parade's overall budget.
"We were able to negotiate a better price with the policing," said Merton. "We got it down to $7,000, but $7,000 is still a lot of money that the parade committee has to pay. We have to raise more money obviously."
But raising additional funds, on top of those provided by McCormick Canada and Canada Life, has proven to be difficult. More than 300 donation request letters were mailed out to local businesses by parade organizers, with only London-based GoodLife Fitness coming through with a new sponsorship.
The parade does not qualify for grants offered by the City of London.
"I'm not arguing that the police shouldn't be paid, but I think a city of this calibre should have a fund for parades that we can tap into," said Merton. "I've already been told that [policing costs] will be more next year."
London police have stated the cost associated with policing this year's parade is only $3,000, however, Merton added that the price tag to have London police officers participate in the parade itself is an additional $4,000.
"The London Police Service works with the organizers of every parade to try and reduce the costs without reducing public safety," Constable Sandasha Bough said in a statement. "Some initiatives that we consider to assist with costs are using volunteer auxiliary officers and on-duty traffic officers with respect to road closures and assistance."
Bough went on to state that the police service would continue to work with organizers.
While this year's parade will go ahead as planned this Saturday, Merton warned that without a new revenue stream the future of the parade is a murky one.
"Maybe people need to talk to their city councillors after the parade this year and say 'these parades are all in jeopardy, what can you do?' I really believe that there should be a budget just for parades in the city," said Merton.
The theme of this year's parade is "A Cartoon Christmas." For the second year in a row, the route the floats will travel has been altered due to the construction of Dundas Place. The 90-minute parade will begin at Dundas and Egerton streets at 6 p.m., heading west to Wellington Street where it will detour around construction via Queens Avenue before heading back onto Dundas. The parade ends at Dundas and Ridout streets.
People coming to the parade are asked to bring non-perishable food items for the London Food Bank and new teddy bears for the Salvation Army toy drive. “Santa Stop Here” flags will also be available for purchase and the annual Toonie Toss will take place. Money raised through those two initiatives is used to help cover some of the costs of the parade.
Businesses and organizations interested in sponsoring the parade can do so through the event's website www.londonsantaparade.ca.
