TORONTO—Local communities have scored over one million dollars in green for green projects from the Small Communities Fund.
One of the largest grants in this round, which saw the federal and provincial governments provide 13 small communities with over $10 million to build and repair critical infrastructure and help create jobs across the province, went to Wikwemikong, who received $814,568 to install a new solar-powered electric micro-grid that will provide cost-effective power to over 50 local homes and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“This proposal will help us reduce the energy costs for at least 50 buildings in our community,” said Wikwemikong Chief Duke Peltier. “We still have to identify which buildings have the highest potential for savings,” he added. Among the community buildings that are in the running is the community arena, whose energy bill hit can run to tens of thousands of dollars a month.
The micro-grid will utilize existing battery technology to store electricity, backstopped by the current electricity grid.
Burpee and Mills Township received $11,753 to install a solar-powered heating system in their municipal garage. Once completed, notes a news release on the funding announcement, “this new clean-energy technology will help generate cleaner electricity that will improve the local community’s environment and health.”
The Municipality of Killarney received $276,512 to expand a local landfill site and install a new system to collect and treat environmentally harmful liquids. “These upgrades will help mitigate waste disposal-related environmental impacts,” notes the news release.
“We are very excited to see the money come in,” noted Killarney Mayor Ginny Rook. “We applied for this back in 2014, so we didn’t think we were getting it.” Since the community could not afford to complete the project on their own they were forced to put it on the back burner. Although the municipality will have to take another look at their budget, the news is very exciting nonetheless. “This will help us to extend the life of our landfill site,” noted Mayor Rook. “We have been told in the past that we are nearing the end of the lifespan of the landfill.” Any community engaged in the costs associated with building a landfill site, a tab that generally comes in at the multi-million-dollar range, knows all too well how important it is to extend existing landfill assets.
Patricia A. Hadju, Federal Minister of Status of Women, and Michael Gravelle, Ontario Minister of Northern Development and Mines, announced the funding for infrastructure projects in Thunder Bay. Ontario and the federal government are each providing over $5 million for the 13 projects, with the communities responsible for the remainder.
Ontario is making the largest investment in public infrastructure in the province’s history, noted Minister Hadju. That investment includes close to $160 billion over 12 years and will support 110,000 jobs every year across the province, focussing on projects such as roads, bridges, transit systems, schools and hospitals.
The $10 billion Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component (PTIC) provides support for projects of national, local or regional significance. This includes the Small Communities Fund (PTIC–SCF) that will provide $1 billion for projects in municipalities with fewer than 100,000 residents.
