St. Michael’s rejected

“When it came to the request from St. Michael’s Church, it’s not that it’s not a great project. It’s not that not going to add to the community and add to some performance space, it’s simply that the City of Prince George needs to be cautious that we’re not getting into a piecemeal, ad hoc version of supporting the arts in our community,” explains Councillor Kyle Sampson, who joined other Council members in rejecting the request. “We need to have a proper plan, a proper strategy.”

This is not the first time Council has rejected a seemingly small funding request. In May of 2019, the local pickleball club went to Council, looking for $45,000 to convert some tennis courts at the Prince George Golf and Curling club into pickleball courts. The request was denied, with Council citing a lack of due diligence to look for money elsewhere.

“If they’re coming up empty-handed because they’ve gone to every other well possible. They’ve gone to Northern Development Trust, they’ve gone for corporate dollars and sponsorship and if this is going to be something that is kind of a make or break in our community, of course, we never want to tell people ‘Never come to Council.’ We want to hear these things because, at the end of the day, all of our goals is to build a better community

Dr. Hay says the City spends countless dollars on hockey rinks and swimming and even half a million dollars on the Playhouse while looking this gift horse in the mouth.

by Cheryl Jahn

St. Michael’s rejected

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