Premier Scott Moe announced his government's economic stimulus plan earlier this month. (File Photo/paNOW Staff)

By Michael Joel-Hansen

Economic stimulus

Smaller communities respond to provincial infrastructure spending

May 20, 2020 | 2:31 PM

Some Prince Albert area communities are responding to the provincial government’s infrastructure stimulus spending.

Earlier this month the province announced plans to spend an additional $2 billion on capital projects. Part of this saw the government make over $100 million available to municipalities through the Municipal Economic Enhancement Program.

This week it was made public how much money every municipality in Saskatchewan is eligible for. The Village of Christopher Lake north of P.A. will be getting just over $40,000 from the province.

Christopher Lake Mayor Denis Daughton said the money is welcome. He explained council has not yet decided how to spend the additional funds.

“It helps a lot,” he said.

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He said they have been planning on doing work to expand walking paths in the village and that these funds could help with the project. He said there are possible sidewalk and road projects which the village could also look at.

“We may have some more paving to do,” he said.

Daughton said they appreciate the contribution from the province as in many cases programs from the federal government don’t go very far for communities like his.

“The butter’s spread pretty thin,” he said.

The Resort Village of Candle Lake is also getting money from the stimulus. The community is set to get just over $120,000. Candle Lake Mayor Borden Wasyluk said he is happy the money is being made available.

“It’s a welcome thing, especially in these times,” he said.

Wasyluk said council has not yet decided how to spend the additional money. The mayor explained when it comes to infrastructure there are a variety of needs for the municipality.

“Roads for one thing, walking trails for another thing, recreational facilities for another thing, that’s probably the three major ones,” he said.

However, Wasyluk takes issue with the formula the province used to award the money. Funding is handed out on a per capital basis, for every person a municipality gets $143.73. For population numbers, the province used data from the 2016 census.

“I don’t think the allocation is fair, maybe it should be based on how much we remit in education taxes to the province,” he said.

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MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn