COMMUNITY TRUST PREPARING CHRISTINA LAKE ARTS SITE

CHRISTINA LAKE – Five forest workers are preparing a site for the Christina Living Arts Centre through more than $12,600 from the Community Development Trust’s Job Opportunities Program, Community Development Minister Kevin Krueger, Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell and Tourism, Culture and the Arts Minister Bill Bennett announced.

“The Job Opportunities Program is part of the Province’s comprehensive strategy to address the needs of workers, their families and communities being impacted by the current state of the forest industry,” said Krueger. “Our government wants to encourage forest-dependent communities to continue identifying projects that will qualify, and submit project proposals.”

“This centre will showcase the community’s culture, set within B.C.’s unparalleled natural beauty,” said Bennett. “With one project we’re benefitting visitors and residents alike, and creating jobs at the same time. That’s good for Christina Lake and for all of British Columbia.”

The Province has granted Christina Lake a licence to use 18 hectares alongside Highway 3 for an interpretive centre and community park with pathway. Funding from the Job Opportunities Program will be used to clear about 1.5 hectares for construction site access to the new building and parking lot, and to reduce potential fire hazards next to the proposed centre.

“The Job Opportunities Program is employing Kootenay forest workers to improve forest health, reduce the risk of fire and develop recreation options for residents across the region,” said Bell. “In addition to job creation, this project has started the groundwork for an interpretive centre that will provide visitors with a new appreciation for Christina Lake’s unique ecology. This investment in Christina Lake’s future is expected to make significant contributions to tourism and the local economy.”

The work also includes spacing, pruning and removal of brush and dead or damaged trees from about 1.4 hectares for improved safety and visibility between the highway and the Christina Living Arts Centre. Logs for shelving and firewood will be salvaged from the site and woody debris will be chipped and used to surface trails.

“We are excited to see the crew in the park, and they feel good to be working in the woods again,” said the Christina Living Arts Centre’s Bob Dupee. “This centre is a dream come true for the community, after many years of teamwork, dedication and planning.”

The centre will house an artisan’s gallery, welcome centre and the Christina Lake Stewardship Society and will include green building features. Much of the lumber that will be used in the construction will be mountain pine beetle wood and will showcase the beauty of building with beetle-wood. The centre has also received funding from the Province’s Towns for Tomorrow program, the Southern Interior Development Initiative Trust, the Western Diversification Fund and the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary.

The $26.25-million Job Opportunities Program is reducing the impact of current layoffs on workers employed in the forest industry, retaining skilled forest workers for the anticipated future upturn, and preserving the characteristics of the labour force in forest-dependent communities.

Forest-dependent communities or organizations, licensees and contractors working in cooperation with a forest-dependent community are eligible to submit a project proposal to the Job Opportunities Program. To date, the program has approved over $16 million to support 93 projects which will employ more than 750 forest workers in communities across the province.

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

In the 2009-2010 budget, the Province committed an additional $30 million for further programs similar to those offered under the Community Development Trust.

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

-30-


Media contact:	Vivian Thomas Communications Manager Ministry of Forests and Range 250 387-5728	Leanne Ritchie Public Affairs Officer Ministry of Community Development 250 213-8075
	Bob Dupee Christina Living Arts Centre 250 447-6561
For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca.