By Colleen Dane - Comox Valley Record

Published: January 15, 2009 6:00 PM

History has been put on hold in the Village of Cumberland this year.

Organizers of the annual Heritage Fair have decided to cancel the event this year in light of council concerns regarding insurance coverage for community events.

“Nobody’s mad or anything. We just thought we’d hold on and see what we’re doing here,” said Ron Bannerman, a member of the organizing committee for the event.

The Cumberland Heritage Fair has been held each year since 2002 as the local initiative during the provincial heritage week, the third week of February.

It’s a day of displays by local history enthusiasts that also features live music and dance performances by people from the Comox Valley.

Last week, at the village’s committee of the whole meeting, councillors discussed concerns around whether volunteer groups in the community are properly covered by insurance, and if they’re not, if the village would be liable for their events or work.

“I can’t understate the importance of that issue,” said Mayor Fred Bates at that meeting. “It’s not sort of a loose threat hanging out there anymore — it’s a reality.”

It was an issue raised in a staff review of committees connected to the village council, but extended to other volunteer groups holding events in Cumberland.

The story raised discussion amongst Heritage Fair organizers, who said they didn’t know if they were covered for liability, or how they should go about getting event coverage.

“It’s a good deal (the event), but we don’t want to put our necks on the stump … risk losing everything as individuals,” said Bannerman.

He said by taking the year off, they will be able to review the liability issues, and will discuss with the village what their direction will be for the coming year.

Then, he said, they’ll be back in 2010, maybe carrying over the education theme which was designated for this year.

“We still had a very good working relationship with them (the village) and I think we will continue to have a good working relationship — but we do want to work this liability issue out,” said Bannerman.