SOUND OFF: Rural Dividend Fund was crucial for small communities — and now it’s gone
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THIS SUMMER, while the forestry crisis was in full swing in rural British Columbia, workers in hard-hit forestry-dependent communities anxiously waited for some kind of response or relief from their government. As months passed and more mills announced curtailments and shutdowns, the only response from John Horgan and the NDP was silence. It wasn’t until mid-September that the government announced modest monetary relief for forestry workers.
The $69 million in relief that Minister of Forestry Doug Donaldson announced was less than what was truly needed to address the crisis, but rural communities were encouraged to hear that their government finally seemed to be paying attention to the seriousness of the situation for the first time. However, only a few days after the initial announcement we found out that the money promised to forestry workers was actually taken from another program vital to rural B.C. — the Rural Dividend Fund.
The Rural Dividend Fund is a program that was introduced under the previous BC Liberal government with the purpose of promoting economic growth and diversification in rural areas. Communities and First Nations with populations of 25,000 or less have come to rely on this program to fund important projects that they could not otherwise afford.
Within my own riding, we have seen numerous success stories as a result of this program. The Village of Cache Creek is one such example, as it received funding through the Rural Dividend Fund that allowed it to develop its downtown core and local businesses.
