Jinny Sims, the Minister of Citizen's Services and Selina Robinson the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing provide the outline of what the 16 million dollars in grants for 54 communities are directed towards.
“These grants-in-lieu cover land and property owned by the provincial government, such as office buildings, warehouses and courthouses. Local governments provide vital public services that benefit all members of their community,” ... "They know their communities best and these grants help fund those priority projects.” -- Minister Sims
“These grants provide valuable funding that allows local governments to invest in services British Columbians count on,” Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Selina Robinson said. “Our government is committed to supporting local governments as they build and sustain vibrant, healthy communities.” -- Minister Robinson
For the Northwest, the concentration of BC Government services in the Terrace area means that the City of Terrace receives the largest stream of funding from the province, with Smithers a close second.
The steady erosion of government offices out of Prince Rupert over the years has left the North Coast city significantly down the list of recipients once again for this year, the Rupert cash coming mainly through the operations of the Provincial Court House and Service BC office in the city.
The Northwest List for 2017 is as follows:
Terrace -- $133,508.49
Smithers -- $127,364.32
Prince Rupert -- $50,679.06
Hazelton -- $24,714.70
Masset -- $12,542.03
Burns Lake -- $8,810.29
Stewart -- $1,809.97
Haida Gwaii -- $2,188.15
Houston -- $304.88
You can review the full announcement from the BC Government here.
More notes on items related to provincial politics and the Legislature can be found here, while notes on the City of Prince Rupert can be found on our archive page.
Those are interesting numbers which illustrate how Rupert has declined over the years as a regional centre for government services, especially relative to Terrace and Smithers.
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