The B.C. governmentB次元官网网址檚 decision to transfer its $25 million annual B次元官网网址渞ural dividend fundB次元官网网址� to an aid package for communities losing their sawmills has prompted a backlash.
The fund was set up by the B.C. Liberal government to provide economic diversification to communities of 15,000 population or smaller, many of them dependent on a single industry. That changed Sept. 17 when Forests Minister Doug Donaldson announced ministry funds have been reallocated for this year.
B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson hosted rural community representatives at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention Tuesday, where they took turns blasting the decision.
Williams Lake Mayor Walt Cobb said his community was counting on funds to help upgrade its water system.
Cobb noted the city is currently on a water quality advisory due to levels of manganese found in the water which does not meet Health CanadaB次元官网网址檚 new water quality guidelines.
B次元官网网址淲e canB次元官网网址檛 wait two years,B次元官网网址� Cobb said.
Wilkinson said the current yearB次元官网网址檚 rural fund has 338 applications, totalling $35 million in needed assistance. The province has $300 million that was B次元官网网址渓eft on the tableB次元官网网址� after a calm forest fire season, and that money should be available to help with rural needs whether they are related to mill closures or not, he said.
The new assistance fund is $69 million over two years, directed to four B.C. Interior communities that have seen a permanent closure or indefinite curtailment of mills: Quesnel, Chasm, Vavenby and Fort St. James.
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Port McNeill had an application in for the earlier fund, and Mayor Gaby Wickstrom was first to speak out publicly about the decision to defer applications to next year.
Part 1 - Listening to Minister Donaldson answer questions at the B次元官网网址檚 dinner. Not quite understanding why Rural Dividend Funds needed to be redirected to address the Interior Forestry crisis. Those communities need both funding pools.
B次元官网网址� Gaby Wickstrom (@GabyWickstrom)
B次元官网网址淩ural communities are going to keep knocking on the ministerB次元官网网址檚 door until someone realizes the reallocation of the rural dividend funds has been a big mistake,B次元官网网址� Wickstrom tweeted from the UBCM convention.
Donaldson sent letters to applicants for the rural dividend fund on the day the sawmill relief fund was announced, advising them their grant applications are B次元官网网址渟uspended until further noticeB次元官网网址� to help those hardest hit by a wave of mill closures across the Interior.
B次元官网网址淚 recognize the importance of this program and the services it supports,B次元官网网址� Donaldson said in the letter. B次元官网网址淪taff are working with colleagues across other ministries to identify options for alternative funding, with an emphasis on community economic development and diversification.B次元官网网址�
Donaldson said projects funded through rural dividend funds in previous years are unaffected, and B次元官网网址渁ll funded applicants are encouraged to continue to implement projects and complete the necessary reporting requirements.B次元官网网址�
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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