On Wednesday August 12th, Lisa MacLeod, Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries joined Lisa Thompson, MPP for Huron-Bruce, and Bill Walker, MPP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, to announce over $550,000 in funding to help propel the local arts and tourism sectors in the area.
MacLeod was in Goderich earlier in the day with Huron Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson, where she announced funding through a number of programs, including Community Museum Operating Grants and the Ontario Trillium Foundation, to help sectors that fall within culture and tourism.
Minister MacLeod who was travelling throughout Huron Bruce and Grey Counties with funding announcements, made a stop at the Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre in Southampton where Executive Director, Cathy McGirr, added the Bruce County sticker to the Minister’s ‘travelling suitcase’.
Chair of the Museum Committee, Mayor Steve Hammell of Arran Elderslie, gave kudos to the Museum’s Executive Director Cathy McGirr and the many members and volunteers.
“Our sectors were hit first, the hardest and will take the longest to recover,” said Minister MacLeod. “As our government moves forward with reopening the province, we are proud to support numerous organizations that build up our unique communities and put our tourism industry on a path to recovery.”
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March, the government has continued to invest in Ontario’s tourism and creative sectors. Through Community Museum Operating Grants, the Celebrate Ontario program and the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the government has made investments to enrich local and visitor experiences, including:
- $205,000 for the Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation
- $71,830 for the Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre
- $63,226 for the Huron County Museum & Historic Gaol
- $80,044 for the 49th Huron Country Playhouse Theatre Festival
- $59,500 for the Blyth Centre for the Arts
- $60,624 for the Lucknow’s Music in the Fields
- $20,659 for the Huron Waves Music Festival
- $5,500 for the Port Elgin Pumpkinfest
Thompson also noted that the County of Bruce recently received two Rural Economic Development grants. The first is for up to $150,000 in support of the ‘Be An Explorer’ marketing campaign along with $70,000 to operate a workforce attraction and retention strategy for the region.
“These grants, including today’s announcement of the $71,830 for the Bruce County Museum and Cultural Centre as well as others for Huron County, illustrates the support this government has for rural Ontario and for Huron-Bruce,” Thompson said.
“These investments in our community institutions are very important for our economy in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound and Huron-Bruce as we continue to recover from COVID-19,” said Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Walker. “We thank Minister McLeod for her support and this very timely funding.”
The next day (Aug. 13) MacLeod was off to Sauble Beach, the Grey Roots Museum and Archives and the Tom Thomson Art Gallery in Owen Sound where she was expected to make further funding announcements for the riding of Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound.
