The SARS Benefit That Isn’t

A major concert scheduled for Toronto and billed as a SARS benefit is drawing critical fire after it was discovered that no portion of the proceeds from the show will be earmarked for SARS relief. The concert will feature some of Canada’s highest-profile music stars, including Avril Lavigne and Barenaked Ladies, and the performers will be paid handsomely out of a $5 million fund provided by the Ontario government, but none of the provincial money will be put towards a solution to the outbreak, either. Organizers say that the concert was never intended as a traditional benefit, but as a way to get large numbers of people to come to downtown Toronto, which has been badly hurt by the perception that SARS is rampant.