Communities can apply to new fund to help with ‘aging’ infrastructure
A federal economic development engine will start funding different types of projects.
At a Tuesday press conference at the Canada Games Complex, Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Patty Hajdu, who also holds the ministerial portfolio for FedNor, announced the organization will commit more than $39 million over the next four years to community infrastructure projects.
Hajdu, also the Minister of Jobs and Families, said the Complex is “a good example of the kind of infrastructure that’s aging all across Northwestern Ontario that needs renovation and a boost that could be eligible for the fund.”
“Obviously, these are important places for residents all across our region to gather, to exercise, to come for community events and they’re worth saving. And so this fund is exactly built to ensure that infrastructure in northern Ontario stays strong.”
The money dedicated to FedNor is part of the $51-billion commitment Ottawa has made over the next decade to infrastructure spending across the country, under the auspices of the Build Communities Strong Fund.
Hajdu said the new fund expands the type of projects FedNor will financially back, as typically the agency focused on job creation and economic growth.
“We often talk about the importance of a job, jobs are very important, of course,” she said.
“But if there’s nothing to do in communities, if there’s not a place for people to gather, if libraries and recreation centres and community halls are not kept strong, then it increasingly becomes less viable to stay in these communities. And we want to attract people for work but we also want people to come and stay and live in our communities.”
“This announcement means more good things for Thunder Bay,” Mayor Ken Boshcoff said in his remarks during the press conference. “Jobs, funding, support for public places and infrastructure — and a continuing effort of us moving forward as a community.”
“I can’t even begin to tell you how important this space is to the community,” Jessy Bogacki, the program supervisor of adult fitness, wellness and inclusion services at the Complex, told reporters.
“We have a thousand people walk through this door every single day — that would be children, families, adults, older adults, people with chronic diseases, people with disabilities coming here for support — we serve everybody, and I just think maintaining this facility is the utmost importance to the community,” Bogacki said.
“It would just be such a huge loss if we couldn’t offer what we offer, such a huge valuable facility for us to have in Thunder Bay.”
The money will “help communities build, repair and upgrade the places and spaces families and individuals rely on every day,” said a press release issued by the federal government.
“Communities, municipalities, Indigenous organizations and other eligible groups can now apply to FedNor for funding to support projects that reflect local infrastructure needs, create jobs and help communities grow.”
Priority will be given to “high-impact, shovel-ready projects that create jobs and help build resilient communities for the future,” Hajdu was quoted as saying in the media release.
“I think about the many people that come for birthday parties and gatherings of all different kinds,” Hajdu said at the Complex on Tuesday.
“To me, these are really important places to ensure the community remains strong.” – tbnewswatch.com
article website here
Once she hands the $25 million cheque to the ‘mistake-on-the-lake’ waterfront art gallery, there won’t be much left for other ‘shovel ready’ infrastructure projects.
You do know that the money that she is handing out, all $39 million of it, is money that was taken from your wallets and placed into the government’s slush fund known as FedNor. She is being lauded for giving us back our own money. Not only OUR money that was taken at the point of a gun but money that will be taken from generations not even born yet.
They unborn already have a heavy tax burden to shoulder. Government deficit spending ensures that.
Anyway, the art galley people will be happy. They will get their cash.