sunset over a distant island
Politics

Grants-in-Aid for Quadra ICAN and Surge Narrows Community Association Approved

Some of the SRD’s Campbell River Directors don’t believe not-for-profits should receive Grants-in-Aid for core operating expenses.   

At the Wednesday Nov 27 Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Board meeting, Director Susan Sinnot declared, “If not-for-profits are unable to get local support for their initiatives, then it’s not good practice that we be funding ongoing operating costs as a government body with forced taxpayer dollars. So I’m going to vote against this just because of the content of the request.”

The matter came up because Regional Director Robyn Mawhinney brought   forward two applications for assistance with 2025 insurance costs:

Mawhinney explained, “Both of the organizations listed here are doing really great work and very involved in the community and not just on Quadra Island.”

(The Surge Narrows Community Association is on Read Island.)

“One of the first things I brought to this board was trying to figure out a way to access insurance support for non-profits because it is one of the main things they struggle with funding. I was hoping we could fund them through access to the Municipal Insurance Association or something like that, but the report came back negative. I think these are really valuable and important community systems that are in place. They really need support.”   

When the vote was called, three Campbell River Directors (Kerr, Sinnot and Chapman) opposed the motion, but the vast majority of the SRD Board were in favour and it carried. 

Top image credit: Quadra Island – Photo courtesy Yakari-Travel (www.yakari-travel.de) via Flickr (CC BY 2.)

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