Close X
Saturday, November 30, 2024
ADVT 
National

PNE cancelled this summer due to COVID-19 rules

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 05 May, 2021 04:45 PM
  • PNE cancelled this summer due to COVID-19 rules

The Pacific National Exhibition says ongoing COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have forced the cancellation of the annual fair for a second year in a row.

A statement from PNE management says even a scaled back in-person event will not be possible this summer.

The exhibition, which is owned by the City of Vancouver and operating for more than a century, runs for the two weeks leading up to Labour Day, pumping $200 million into the Metro Vancouver region annually.

The statement says the PNE creates 4,300 direct jobs, more than twice as many direct or indirect positions, and is the largest employer of youth in B.C.

CUPE Local 1004 president Andrew Ledger says thousands of the union's members depend on the fair to pay for post-secondary education or support their families.

The statement from the PNE says it is committed to working with health officials to "see what might be possible as the summer progresses."

"Despite our planning for a number of scalable versions of the PNE fair, it is now clear that the number of guests required to make an in-person fair financially viable will not be allowed under anticipated public health orders this summer,” PNE spokesperson Laura Ballance said in the statement.

Ledger calls the cancellation a "massive loss of much-needed employment."

The Vancouver Fireworks Festival Society announced Monday that it has cancelled the Honda Celebration of Light fireworks event due to pandemic restrictions.

The annual show attracts an average of 400,000 people to Vancouver's English Bay for each of the event's three nights, and was also cancelled last summer.

 

MORE National ARTICLES

System-wide 'failure' prompted military review: PM

System-wide 'failure' prompted military review: PM
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announced Arbour's appointment nearly three months after the government and Armed Forces were rocked by allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour by the military's very top commanders.

System-wide 'failure' prompted military review: PM

Sikh advocacy group says India blocked aid website

Sikh advocacy group says India blocked aid website
Anshuman Gaur, India's deputy high commissioner to Canada, says his government has labelled Sikhs For Justice a terrorist group, but could not comment on whether the state blocked its site.

Sikh advocacy group says India blocked aid website

Ford says 'borders are broken' in plea to Ottawa

Ford says 'borders are broken' in plea to Ottawa
Ford says if it were up to him, he’d shut down Toronto's Pearson International Airport and the province’s land borders to stop some travellers from exploiting loopholes in federal measures.

Ford says 'borders are broken' in plea to Ottawa

Deficit hit $282 billion in February, feds say

Deficit hit $282 billion in February, feds say
The deficit from April to February compares to a deficit of $7 billion over the same period one year earlier.

Deficit hit $282 billion in February, feds say

BC adds site-specific, clearly marked police road checks to existing travel ban

BC adds site-specific, clearly marked police road checks to existing travel ban
The road checks may be set up on highway corridors that connect different regions of the province to remind travellers of the order.

BC adds site-specific, clearly marked police road checks to existing travel ban

Top court sides with Crown over immunity

Top court sides with Crown over immunity
The high court decision today comes in the case of three Toronto officers accused of assaulting two men, Randy Maharaj and Neil Singh, they arrested for robbery in 2009.

Top court sides with Crown over immunity