Prince George city council approved recommendations for $131,576 in limited-duration grants for community organizations during a committee of the whole meeting on Wednesday, March 5, setting up a final decision at a future regular council meeting.
Committee of the whole meetings are typically chaired by the acting mayor rather than the mayor, meaning that Coun. Cori Ramsay led proceedings.
The city budgeted $131,576 for these grants but received total funding requests worth $664,734.42. A total of 36 applications were received, but only 27 were found to be eligible under the program’s terms.
These grants are different from myPG grants, which are aimed at specific projects.
Organizations were able to apply for grants worth up to 30 per cent of their total operating budget to a maximum of $30,000. The applicants had to show that their services align with the city’s strategic goals, be registered non-profit societies that ave been operating for at least two years and can demonstrate financial need.
In his introduction to the discussion, director of civic events and facilities Andy Beesley told the committee that this is the first year since council approved a new policy for handing out multi-year funding grants last October.
Beesley said having this discussion as a committee of the whole rather than as city council would allow for more flexible discussion of the topic.
Sarah Brown, the city’s supervisor of civic initiatives and partnerships, said six staff members scored the 27 eligible applications using a scoring matrix to determine which applicants should receive funding and then decide how much funding they should receive in both 2025 and 2026.
That process narrowed down the field to 14 applicants proposed to receive funding totalling the exact amount budgeted for this year.
Maria Paulson, a civic initiatives and strategic partnerships co-ordinator, went through the list of recommended grant recipients and what some of the factors in the city decision were. The matrix lists the funding the recipients are proposed to receive both this year and next year.
That list recommended:
- $20,000 for the Carney Hill Neighbourhood Centre Society, which is facing a 200 per cent increase in rent,
- $15,000 for the Northern Community Counselling Centre Society, which has experienced an increase in the demand for their services in recent years,
- $10,000 for the Exploration Place, the only science centre in the region with a high rate of participation in the programs it runs,
- $10,000 for Big Brothers Big Sister of Northern BC, which has seen an increase in demand for its services and a decrease in funding from other sources in recent years,
- $10,000 for the Omineca Arts Centre, due to the community arts programming it provides as well as its high participation rate,
- $10,000 for the Knox Performance Centre at Trinity United Church, which provides a live arts and performance space in the downtown that supports local artists,
- $10,000 for Hart Highlands Winter Club, which provides a winter activity space for community groups and plans to expand to year-round events. Paulson said this was especially important after the closure of Tabor Ski Hill,
- $10,000 for Prince George and District Senior Citizens Activity Centre Society, which benefits local seniors by providing programming and a place to socialize. Paulson said the society would benefit from the certainty of multi-year funding as it looks to recover from a deficit,
- $7,500 for the Prince George Conservatory of Music, which has strong participation in its programming and collaborates with other organizations like the Prince George Symphony. Paulson said the conservatory caters to a wide range of ages,
- $7,076 Prince George and District Music Festival, which collaborates with other arts organizations and venues like Vanier Hall and faces issues stemming from a lack of paid staff,
- $7,000 Prince George Recycling and Environmental Action Planning Society (REAPS), which is one of the few groups in Prince George focusing on the environment and provides value through its engagement on food security and environmental stewardship,
- $5,000 for the Alban Classical Artists Society, which provides opportunities for musical learning and needs funding in order to sustain and grow its programming,
- $5,000 Prince George Agricultural and Historical Association, which helps put on the BC Northern Exhibition as well as summer markets and
- $5,000 for Engage Sport North, which provides athletics opportunities to kids at both the K-12 and post-secondary levels and has seen provincial funding stagnate in the face of inflation.
Just two of the applicants were recommended to receive all of the funding they asked for, the Alban Classical Artists Society and the Prince George Conservatory of Music.
The groups that were eligible for funding but were recommended not to receive any included the Prince George Tapestry Singers, the Prince George Sexual Assault Centre, the Northern Women’s Centre, the Mennonite Central Committee of British Columbia, the Prince George Figure Skating Club, the Canadian Mental Health Association of Northern BC, the Aboriginal Housing Society of Prince George, the Prince George Spoke of the Pacific Autism Family Network, the POUNDS Project Society, Method Dance Society, Prince George Minor Hockey, the Prince George Branch of the British Columbia Schizophrenia Society and the All-Stages Education Foundation.
Some of the factors in unsuccessful applications included a lack of clarity, failure to demonstration how the funding would be used and a lack of financial information about their organizations.
For a few of the applicants, the financial details they provided showed that while the funding was going to be helpful to them, it wouldn’t be essential for them to continue operations.
Brown stressed that the decision not to recommend funding to some groups was not a judgment on the work they do and encouraged them to apply for other funding the city provides or this same program when the intake re-opens next year. Paulson said the meetings weighing which groups should receive funding were difficult.
Along the way, Brown said they solicited feedback from applicants to find out how the city can improve the process in future years. That feedback combined with future engagement sessions planned for this year with residents and prospective applicants will be used to develop a report recommending changes that will be presented to council this fall.
She said the city was “overwhelmed” by the amount of applications it received and made several recommendations on how potential applicants could be narrowed in future years like focusing each year’s funding on a specific topic or component of the city’s strategic plan.
Coun. Brian Skakun moved for the funding recommendation for The Exploration Place be eliminated with the money redirected as decided by administration.
His motion passed with only Mayor Simon Yu and Coun. Tim Bennett in opposition. Coun. Garth Frizzell was absent for this first vote, but arrived in time for the rest of the motions.
Coun. Kyle Sampson introduced a motion directing city administration to prepare a report on how the decisions for these grants could be delegated to city administration starting for next year’s intake. He said it would be better to remove the political element from these decisions as council isn’t involved to the same degree for any other grant process.
Yu expressed disappointment that this was being proposed very early into a new process without seeing if any problems popped up before changing course.
Coun. Trudy Klassen said she thought the process had gone better than she thought it would and was hesitant to give it up.
Coun. Susan Scott said she had initially wondered why a meeting was being held on this subject as it looked like decisions had essentially been made already, but found it to be a fulsome discussion.
Beasley joined the conversation said that even if council passed Sampson’s motion, administration would likely still seek guidance on whether the adjudication process should be adjusted or changes need to be made to match the city’s big picture goals.
Coun. Ron Polillo said he’d like to see the process given another year given the amount of work staff had put in and how smoothly the presentation had been.
Coun. Cori Ramsay said she’d received feedback from residents similar to what Scott had thought in advance of the meeting, that the decisions had in essence already been made. She said she was in support of the motion, though she understood her colleagues’ desire to have it go at least another year.
Following up on his colleagues’ remarks, Sampson said he thought the current process prevented potential applicants from getting certainty on what yearly funding they would receive given that council’s opinions and goals could change over time.
The motion was defeated, with only Ramsay, Bennett and Sampson voting in favour.
Discussing the overall recommendation as amended to remove the Exploration Place’s funding, Mayor Simon Yu said he felt it was unfair to eligible applicants who were to receive no funding to come out with nothing. For that reason, he said he would vote against the final motion.
Yu was the only council member to vote against the final recommendation.
The scoring matrix also listed the nine applicants judged to be ineligible, though didn’t note the reasons why they were considered ineligible.
The ineligible applicants were the Central British Columbia Railway and Forest Industry Museum Society, the Blackburn Community Association, the Prince George Metis Community Association, Prince George Brain Injured Group, Spruce City Wildlife Association, Nove Voce Choral Society, Rated PG Roller Derby Society, Prince George Regional Highway Rescue Society and the Handy Circle Resource Society.
The final vote on whether to approve the recommendations will take place at a future council meeting, though the item is not present on the agenda for the Monday, March 10 meeting.
