Government won’t discuss Music Yukon’s dilemma

Music Yukon, a non-profit society aimed at developing the recording arts business and musicians in the Yukon,

Music Yukon, a non-profit society aimed at developing the recording arts business and musicians in the Yukon, must now turn its attention to getting its finances in order after running up a debt of between $38,000 and $53,000.

“We thought it was $38,000, and (the Yukon government) said it was closer to $50,000,” said Grant Simpson, a well-known local musician and acting president of Music Yukon.

An audit is currently underway to determine the exact figure.

A joint statement issued by the Departments of Education, Economic Development and Tourism and Culture indicates that “The Film and Sound Commission is providing up to $15,000 to Music Yukon for participation in the evaluation with an aim toward a solid accountability and operational framework.”

But how the society got into the financial hole, and more importantly, how it will climb out of it, are among the acting president’s primary concerns.

According to Simpson, the problem started five years ago, when Music Yukon took over the administration of the Department of Education’s Cultural Industry Training Fund (CITF).

Over that five-year period, more than $388,000 was transferred from the department to Music Yukon, which distributed it in the form of grants to 115 qualified applicants.

“The funding from the Yukon (government) has been project-based, and that means (Music Yukon) had to come up with its own end of the funding – usually somewhere between 25 to 50 per cent,” Simpson told the Star today.

“Because Music Yukon didn’t make any money ... the way we managed some of that was having national funding we could offset this with.”

An annual federal grant of $30,000 from FACTOR (Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent on Recordings) provided some of this offset, but it was not enough to cover the spread.

While much of the nearly $400,000 in CITF cash was driven into the society’s general revenue, the bulk of it was eventually distributed through the proper channels. But in October of last year, Music Yukon came up $32,000 short in its training fund obligations and the government bailed out the society and took a closer look at its financial statements.

“The CITF was there to pay applicants, that was used up and we couldn’t pay the applicants and to the Department of Education’s credit, they stepped up to the plate,” said Simpson.

Like other non-profits in the Yukon that find themselves paying for last year’s projects with the current year’s funding, Simpson said,  Music Yukon is aiming at rectifying this situation, “because we’d just be going deeper in the hole.

“What we’ve done since then is we’ve worked very hard to put together a repayment plan and the one we pitched to the government is something we think we can manage,” Simpson said.

“And we’re not using Yukon government money to pay back the Yukon government ... but trying to use federal money and trying not to get into the situation of having to do benefit concerts because we’re there to try and serve the musicians.”

Michele Royle, a spokeswoman for the Education department, said no government officials will be giving interviews on the matter.