Looking to get their funding back

Port Edward council is not impressed with the developments at the North Pacific Cannery Village, where the Human Resources Development Canada office has decided not to issue summer student grants to a number of northern sites including the Cannery Village.

Port Ed has added their name to the growing list of communities and organizations that plan on writing to the federal Minister responsible for HRSDC.

Any day now Monte Solberg can expect greetings from sunny Port Edward, though he may find that the questions they ask of him won’t be particularly tidings of gladness and joy.

Perhaps issuing an invitation to the Minister to come on out and make the drive to the Fishing village might help. Nothing works better and clears the mind more than to drag a politician out into the real world once and a while, that way they can actually see where his or her department’s decisions are falling down and causing much more in the way of trouble than the taxpayers (and voters) might like.

If nothing else the timing of HRDC’s decision is poor, even worse seems to be the lack of information provided by the government explaining the reasoning behind the decision and why it has been applied in this manner.

The full story from Port Edward was recounted in Thursday’s Daily News.

CANNERY FUNDING CUT TO PROMPT LOBBYING
By Patrick Witwicki
The Daily News
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Page one

Port Edward council is not happy about what has happened to the HRDC grants at the North Pacific Fishing Village.

As reported in Tuesday’s edition of the Daily News, the federal government has decided not to issue HRDC summer student grants to northern B. C. museums and historic sites, including the North Pacific cannery.

This has put manager Karin Ljungh in a difficult position. She has already hired the three summer students needed to run the non-profit facility and isn’t sure where she is going to get the money to pay them.

“It’s obviously going to put a print on our bottom line,” said Chief Executive Officer Ron Bedard.

“I heard it could be $15,000.” “I know that $15,000 may sound like peanuts nowadays, but to the cannery that could make a difference whether it’s in the red of the black.”

In the past, the cannery has applied for four HRDC summer student grants, and has usually received funding for three. But this time, every single grant was rejected, leaving the district scrambling for ideas on how to come up with that cash.

“We need to get our funding back,” said Coun. James Brown. “We get a raw deal.”

The problem started when changes were made to the Canada Summer Jobs program, a new initiative under the HRDC label, which according to http://www.museums.ca/ is designed to help Canadian non-profits, public sector employers, and smaller private sector organizations offer summer jobs to students who face social barriers.

But apparently, under this new definition, museums and heritage sites all across Canada no longer qualify, and have all been turned down.
“Despite the need for long-term solutions, there is still an urgent need to voice, loudly, the case for museums,” said Jim Harding, executive director for the B. C. Museums Association.

“Because it is clear that a major educational effort on the federal level is needed.”

The Canadian Musueum Association (CMA) has notified all of its members to send as many letters as possible to the federal minister responsible, who is Monte Solberg, Minister of HRSDC.

Port Edward was quick to add their name to that list.

“I say we do write to the feds and find somebody we can talk to,” said Mayor Dave MacDonald.

Bedard added: “The more letters of support we can send, the better.”

In the March 2007 federal budget, the government committed an additional $5 million per year to support student jobs in museums. The CMA and its members are now scrambling to learn how they can get that funding before it is too late, said John McAvity, CMA executive director.