HUMBOLDT AND AREA RESIDENTS BENEFIT FROM OVER $171,000 INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT

Released on January 21, 2008

The residents of Humboldt, Cudworth, Vonda and the Rural Municipality of Bayne will benefit from over $171,000 in combined federal and provincial funding through the Canada-Saskatchewan Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund (MRIF) to build and upgrade community cultural and recreational facilities.

Today's announcement includes more than $34,000 and $57,000 respectively for the City of Humboldt and the Town of Cudworth, to upgrade pool equipment for increased energy efficiency. The R.M. of Bayne and the Town of Vonda will receive over $50,000 and $29,000 respectively to construct multi-purpose facilities.

This investment was announced by Saskatchewan Municipal Affairs Minister Bill Hutchinson, Brad Trost, Member of Parliament for Saskatoon-Humboldt, on behalf of Rona Ambrose, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister of Western Economic Diversification and Mayor Malcolm Eaton from the City of Humboldt.

"The Government of Saskatchewan is building the foundation of a government-to-government relationship with municipalities in order to deliver the best results to the people of Saskatchewan," Hutchinson said. "I'm proud that the federal, provincial and municipal levels of government are able to work with each other to invest in these vital community facilities."

"The Government of Canada is pleased to help these communities provide safe and energy efficient cultural and recreational venues to attract more visitors," said Trost. "Today's investment reflects our commitment to work in partnership to help communities be vibrant and productive places to live, work and raise families."

Upgrading the Humboldt Uniplex Pool and Cudworth Swimming Pool to access an environmentally friendly energy source and conserve energy will reduce heating costs, consumption of non-renewable resources and emissions of contaminants into the atmosphere.

The construction of new venues in Vonda and the R.M. of Bayne will provide these communities with facilities to attract new events and improve existing activities for residents and visitors.

"This commitment by the Government of Canada along with the Government of Saskatchewan will certainly assist us in providing quality leisure opportunities for the citizens of Humboldt," Eaton said. "Energy retrofits for our Aquatic Centre are an exciting opportunity for us to do something good for our people and to lessen our environmental impact."

Under the initial MRIF agreement, the federal and provincial governments committed a combined $76 million to the fund, with participating communities contributing one-half of all costs, raising the total infrastructure investment above $152 million.

In 2007, the Governments of Canada and Saskatchewan provided an additional $14.9 million to the fund as part of their commitment to help smaller communities meet their pressing infrastructure needs. This additional funding brings the total federal and provincial investment in MRIF projects to over $90.9 million.

This announcement is part of a larger group of 56 MRIF cultural and recreational projects being announced across the province. The federal and provincial governments are providing more than $5.7 million toward the projects' $12.69 million total cost.

Before receiving final approval, community projects undergo a review process under both the Canadian Environment Assessment Act and The Environmental Assessment Act (Saskatchewan).

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For more information, contact:

Joanne Mysak
Western Economic Diversification Canada
Saskatoon
Phone: 306-975-5942

Tyler McMurchy
Municipal Affairs
Regina
Phone: 306-787-5193
Cell: 306-537-7051