PORT ALBERNI RECEIVES $520,000 FROM COMMUNITY TRUST

PORT ALBERNI – The City of Port Alberni will receive funding from the Province for community projects including stream improvements, fuel management work, and the construction of a major new connector trail to enhance recreational and tourism opportunities in the Alberni Valley, Community Development Minister Blair Lekstrom and Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell announced today.

Port Alberni will receive $520,800 – one of the largest funding amounts to date – from the Community Development Trust’s Job Opportunity Program. In addition to building new trail infrastructure, funds will also be used for ecosystem restoration, silviculture, and invasive plant control work. The projects are expected to provide employment for up to 18 forestry workers.

“The Job Opportunities Fund is part of the Province’s comprehensive strategy to address the needs of communities being impacted by the current state of the forest industry,” said Lekstrom. “I want to encourage forestry-dependent communities to take immediate action, identify projects that would qualify and submit proposals for funding.”

“Port Alberni developed a comprehensive plan that’s a great partnership between the Province, the city and forestry workers,” said Bell. “By working together, we can support our forestry workers and harness their skills to create lasting benefits for the community.”

The trail project alone will result in an unprecedented 60-kilometre opportunity in the Alberni Valley to run, walk, bike or ride a horse along the edge of the city, through old-growth forest and along the Alberni Canal waterfront. This trail will appeal to local residents and tourists, with the ultimate goal of linking to the Cowichan Valley trail system.

“We are really pleased to be receiving these funds,” said Ken McRae, mayor of Port Alberni. “This will put some of the laid-off forest industry workers in our community to work at a good wage for a long enough period to requalify them for employment insurance benefits. The work they will do addresses priorities identified by our Climate Change Committee, our Sustainable City initiative and our economic development strategy.”

The Job Opportunities Program is making $26.25 million in funding available over the next three years and is targeted at providing short-term employment opportunities in forest-dependent communities facing economic and social challenges due to the downturn in the forest industry.

The objective of the program is to reduce the impact of current layoffs on workers directly employed in the forest industry, retain skilled forestry workers for the anticipated future upturn, and preserve the characteristics of the labour force in forest-dependent communities.

A forestry-dependent community or organization and forest licencees or forest contractors working in co-operation with a forest-dependent community are eligible to submit a project proposal to the Job Opportunities Program. So far, 94 submissions from across British Columbia have been received.

The Job Opportunities Program is one component of the Community Development Trust, which was announced in May of this year. B.C.’s share of the federal trust is $129 million over three years, with funds also directed to a Tuition Assistance program and Transition Assistance for Older Workers program.

For more information about the Community Development Trust and Job Opportunities Program, go to: http://www.cd.gov.bc.ca/cdt

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Media contact:	Marc Black Ministry of Community Development 250 387-4089	Pat Deakin Economic Development Manager City of Port Alberni 250 720-2527

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