Two Ontario cabinet ministers worked tirelessly this past weekend to clear the way for Santa's sleigh to return to the Sault Ste. Marie Courthouse.
But after being forced by the courthouse's property manager last week to remove the sleigh and a sled full of Christmas toys, city officials have no intention of hauling them back.
Both Mayor Christian Provenzano and chief administrative officer Malcolm White told us Tuesday that it wouldn't be a good use of municipal resources to be moving the decorations back and forth between the courthouse and their present home in front of the Civic Centre.
As SooToday's Riley Smith reported yesterday, Sault MPP and Minister of Colleges and Universities Ross Romano spent much of the weekend working with Attorney General Doug Downey to get clearance for the decorations to return to the Queen Street palace of justice.
Deputy Attorney General Paul Boniferro finally e-mailed Romano to assure him that his ministry "will facilitate the return of the decorations should the city wish to return them."
Well, the city doesn't wish to return them.
At least, not this year.
Meanwhile, both Mayor Provenzano and CAO Malcolm White say they still haven't been told why the courthouse property manager directed that the seasonal decorations be removed.
White says he didn't ask too many questions because the province owns the building and has every right to declare what may or may not be allowed on the site.
"It's their property," Mayor Provenzano said.
Whether it's at the courthouse or the Civic Centre or the new downtown plaza, Provenzano says the city is "absolutely committed to having a tree lighting annually."
Boniferro says the province will work closely with the city to prevent any similar incidents in the future.