Bruno Cherry Sunday has been cancelled after the organizing group was refused funding under the Canada Summer Jobs Program.

“It was difficult and at the end very sad. But without having a summer student we couldn’t see a way forward,” said Vicky Serblowski, executive director of the St. Therese Institute of Faith and Mission and member of the Bruno Cherry Sunday Committee, which puts on the event.

The Saskatoon Roman Catholic Diocese had asked its parishes to not sign an attestation newly required by the federal government which states that the summer job and the organization’s core mandate respect the rights within the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as a woman’s right to a legal and safe abortion.

The attestation also supports the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.

The institute could not in good conscience agree with all aspects of the requirement, and was denied their request of just over $7,000 for a summer student, Serblowski said.

Organizers had found someone who thought they could volunteer time to the project, but the person was ultimately unable to commit the time required, she said.

“It’s just very time consuming, a lot of different aspects to it. You need a coordinator for an event such as this to assign volunteers and contact vendors, contact musicians, contact everything that’s involved with the media and marketing, and there’s just a limited number of volunteer hours that could be spent.”

Serblowski said didn’t know if the committee had directly asked the town council for funding or volunteers, but council would have offered such support were it an option.

The festival was important because it brought in tourists from outside the town, she said.

“It was an opportunity for either a fire department or the fitness club or the school to receive income from outside the community, therefore enhancing our economic development. And now that opportunity is put on hold for a while.”

She looks forward to the attestation being dropped for next year - and then holding a bigger and better festival in 2019, she said.

Correction: The Bruno Cherry Sunday Committee operates the festival, not St. Therese. It was the committee that cancelled Bruno Cherry Sunday this year because of the lack of summer student funding and insufficient volunteer availability. St. Therese works with the committee, applying for the summer student grant and providing both office space and their grounds for the event. This article has been updated.