See the press release below from the Cariboo Regional District, but I would note two things:
1) Williams Lake Council, under the leadership of both Mayor Cook and Councillor Laurie Walters, have failed to work with the people of CRD Areas D & E to address their substantial concerns on the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Function by showing up at Town Hall meetings' in 2009/2010 when this item has been discussed. For the record - I've personally been in attendance in 2009/2010 when the Arts and Culture Function has been brought up at the CRD Area 'D' and Area 'E' Town Hall meetings
2) WL Council & the CRD have failed to bring the public up to speed on the newly formed "Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Society" and as the Society will be managing the Function on behalf of the Cariboo Regional District/City of Williams Lake, it is a failure of leadership between Mayor Cook and her counter-part, CRD Area 'E' Director Steve Mazur to keep his and the Central Cariboo residents' informed on on-going activities relating to the local Arts and Culture Function. Given an election is 12 months away, he needs to do better otherwise he might find himself out of work next fall because the residents' I talk to in CRD Areas 'D' and 'E' still being mad at the Regional District as to how the Arts and Culture Function was formed and I constantly hear comparisons between how the Regional District formed the Arts and Culture Function and how Victoria proceeded to implement the Harmonized Sales Tax because both were done in the same "I know what's best for you" manner and clearly taxpayers' are tired of their politicians - local, regional, provincial and federal - acting in such a "nanny" way. I believe you would find if you brought a new proposal (tax or service) and were up-front with taxpayers, then taxpayers' would be more happier than those politicians who shove something down taxpayers' throats under the guise of doing so because he or she thinking that they had a mandate to do so
Under the Creative Communities program, 2010 Legacies Now and the Province of British Columbia are providing $10,000 to Cariboo Regional District (CRD) for cultural planning in the Central Cariboo.
The Cariboo Regional District, working in partnership with the City of Williams Lake and the newly formed Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Society, will utilize these funds to develop a cultural plan. This project will further define and develop an implementation strategy for priorities identified in the Stonefield Report (October, 2009).
To complete the project, the Creative Communities grant will be matched by funding from the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture service created in 2008 by the Regional District to support activities in the Greater Williams Lake area as well as rural communities in Electoral Areas D, E and F.
In this final round of funding for Creative Communities, a total of $132,000 will be distributed to 14 Communities in regions ranging from Vancouver Island east to Lumby, and from the Lower Mainland
north to Fort Nelson. Full details of the community projects can be found on the attached Fact Sheet.
“We have a fantastic arts community throughout the Cariboo Regional District and these are the types of investment that help to build on past success to plan for the future,” said Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett.
The goal of Creative Communities is to enable local governments to use the arts and cultural sector to achieve social and economic objectives. Funding was available in three categories: cultural mapping, cultural planning and cultural tourism strategy.
“A key objective for the Arts and Culture service was to leverage funding from other organizations such 2010 Legacies Now and grow the resources available to local groups,” stated CRD Chair Al Richmond. “The Creative Communities program grant is the first example of this success and I’m
confident we’ll see more in the future.”
According to Williams Lake Mayor Kerry Cook, “This funding supports our goal of building partnerships and strengthening capacity in the arts and culture sector. These funds will allow us to expand on the Stonefield Report and further enhance our cultural plan.”
From 2005 to 2010, Creative Communities funding supported B.C. municipalities, local governments and arts organizations to assess cultural resources together with community leaders and develop long-term cultural plans. The impact of Creative Communities has been felt in all four corners of the province as the Province of British Columbia and 2010 Legacies Now have invested more than $515,000 into 56 Creative Communities projects in B.C.
Bruce Dewar, CEO of 2010 Legacies Now said, “Creative Communities allows communities to discover how arts, culture and heritage benefit their region. Creative Communities ensured arts offerings addressed specific strengths in a community and found opportunities for the sector overall to grow and develop through thoughtful planning.”
For more information about Creative Communities please visit
www.2010LegaciesNow.com/creative_communities/
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