Completed 60 Of A Planned 97-Show Tour In Celebration Of Canada's 150th Anniversary

The 2017 Canadian Arctic Aviation Tour had grand plans for the celebration of the nation's 150th anniversary. Some 97 air shows were planned across northern Canada last summer to mark the occasion. But Nancy McClure, the shows' organizer pulled the plug on the tour after completing only 60 of the shows, saying the money had run out.

The plan was to hold an airshow over every northern Canadian community.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reports that the tour never received the financial backing needed for such an ambitious project. Now, the organizers are facing several unpaid invoices mostly owed to tour organizers and volunteers who lent money to keep the shows going. McClure says she hopes her creditors will be patient while she works to raise the money needed to pay her bills.

But McClure also hopes to finish the tour in 2018. To set things right, and finish the tour next summer, she needs to raise about $2.6 million (Canadian).

Some who had agreed to work on the tour thought the federal government was backing the project, but that was apparently not the case. While the Canadian government gave the Tour permission to use the Canada 150 celebration logo, there was never any promise of government funding. The Canadian government had set aside some $200 million for projects to celebrate the anniversary, according to the CBC, but the request from the Arctic Aviation Tour was not approved.

McClure said the never misled anyone about federal funding for the project. She told the CBC that she believed wither the Canada 150 fund would approve her request, or money would be coming from another federal agency, such as Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada.

McClure said that her intentions were good, and she is very disappointed that the Tour was grounded before it could be completed. And while her top priority is paying people what they are owed, she's hopeful that the events that were cancelled in 2017 can be held in 2018.

FMI: Original Report, caat2017.com