Toronto Caribbean Carnival, little Myauna King-Thomas deserves better

BY MICHAEL THOMAS

As a person who competed in Calypso in this city for decades, it always bothered me why judges took forever to come up with the results, and then have that prize withdrawn I can just imagine the disappointment, shock and straight up pain this child will experience once she finds out what is taking place with her reign.

The child in question here is nine-year-old Myauna King-Thomas, who represented the band Toronto Revelers and won the title of Junior Queen of the Bands, which was announced at the event on Sunday, July 16^th, 2023, between 9-10 pm. This was after more than two hours of waiting on the judges’ deliberations.

Let’s get into why this pulling of the results is damaging to this child, or any child’s mental state. Public attraction accompanies a win and much more of the same happens when a winning decision is reversed or tampered with.

Here are the highs…. as a result of this win.

• Sunday, July 16^th, 2023- Myauna King-Thomas received a prize from the Ontario Science Centre with a promise that her costume would be on display at the Ontario Science Centre sometime in the future to be arranged.
• Monday, July 17^th, 2023- Myauna King-Thomas at her own cost, appeared on Breakfast Television and CP24 representing Toronto Caribbean Carnival as the Junior Queen of the Bands.
• Saturday, July 24^th, 2023- Myauna King-Thomas appeared at the Toronto Caribbean Carnival Junior Parade and was announced as the Junior Queen of the Bands.
• Saturday, July 24^th, 2023- Myauna King-Thomas was interviewed by CP24, again representing Toronto Caribbean Carnival as the winner of Junior Queen of the Bands.
• Saturday, July 24^th, 2023- Myauna King-Thomas was awarded winnings from the Ontario Secondary School Union for winning the title of Junior Queen of the Bands.
• Thursday, July 27^th, 2023- Myauna King-Thomas, at her own cost delivered and set up the costume for the Blue Jays game – Caribbean night- representing Toronto Caribbean Carnival as Junior Queen of the Bands.
• Friday, July 28, 2023- Myauna King-Thomas, at her own cost attended the Blue Jays game with other Junior Winners to represent Toronto Caribbean Carnival.

Once more let’s have a look at the low point of all this, bearing in mind she is only nine. A little over two weeks after celebrating your big win, your band and family are told first that there is a tie for first place, but you will be allowed to be the winner. How does a nine–year–old process this mess that is being called a decision review?

As of the time this article is written, FMC has not apologized to the general public for their blunder, and as if that was not enough, they released a statement that read as though it was written by Trinidad Rio… “The Big Word Man.”

The statement reads like this. “The results initially announced were unofficial, and upon thorough verification and rectification of tabulation errors, there have been adjustments to the outcome.” The statement ended with them promising to do better in 2024.

Mischka Crichton however, issued a short apology to the family and Myuana, which read like this, “I sincerely apologize for the inconveniences this may have caused and wish Myuana and family all the best in continuing her time as Junior Queen 2023.”

In conclusion, has FMC ever heard about the term conflict of interest?

Mischka Crichton happens to be the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival. This woman comes from a family of “Carnivalists” and Mas people. A closer look into her Mas-band background revealed that she has massive ties to the band Carnival Nationz, who have a winning reputation and this year’s results speak for themselves.

It is a known fact that a few years ago Mischka celebrated her third “female individual” wins representing the band Carnival Nationz, all of this can be found online.

My humble questions here are why have Carnival Nationz results not been reviewed?

Who ordered the review of nine-year-old Myauna King-Thomas’s winning decision after two weeks of silence? Why was this review done?

Mr. Linden King, who is the nine-year-old’s grandfather said, “I feel very disappointed, and disheartened. This is a child, and it is taking quite a toll on the family. We are a tight family, and to see things like that destroy my family. I have a problem with that. This could have been handled differently.”

Mr. King told me he requested true copies of all the score sheets signed by the judge’s administrator for the category of Junior Queen of the Band: So far FMC has not provided him with this information.

There must be an expiry date on this sort of wrongdoing. To FMC and Toronto Caribbean Carnival, your supporters, the public, and little Myauna deserve better, please do better.