A valiant community effort to fundraise on a tight timeline turned out to be no match for the “slow wheels of government” after all.

“The slow wheels of government have made it impossible to continue to keep the dance school open and our beloved teacher Elizabeth Nel in Canada,” a press release from the Merritt Dance Society issued earlier this month announced.

The release announced the official closure of the school and cancelling of its programs because of Nel’s impending deportation, which was spurred by a random spot check and a voluntary wage discrepancy.

The effort to raise thousands of dollars in back pay for Nel undertaken by community members — including many parents of Nel’s dance students — was apparently not enough to satisfy the federal government’s criteria to allow her to stay.

Nel was hired by the Merritt Dance Society in 2012 and relocated to Merritt from South Africa, bringing with her decades of experience teaching dance at all levels, including lecturing on movement science at South Africa’s University of Pretoria.

After Nel relocated to Merritt, the dance school’s enrolment did not justify a $25 per hour wage in the Labour Market Opinion she’d received, so she accepted $15 an hour instead while the school picked up.

Late last year, a random spot check by Service Canada resulted in an investigation into the wage discrepancy.

The Merritt Dance Society was ordered to backpay Nel for the equivalent of $25 an hour and appropriate taxes. The society fundraised about $12,000 and paid Nel, but as the Service Canada investigation continued, it did not stall her impending deportation date from Immigration Canada as she couldn’t renew her work permit.

“The unwillingness of the Immigration Department and Service Canada to synchronize and work together has created an unwinnable situation,” the statement reads.

“We, the Merritt Dance Society, are deeply saddened by this outcome and disappointed in our elected government officials. We will miss Lizette and [her husband] Herman and wish them safe travels back to South Africa. Perhaps one day we will dance again.”