A promise made by the former PC government will be honoured by the NDP, as part of the 2015 budget, announced by Minister of Municipal Affairs Deron Bilous last Thursday.
A total of $876.9M will be distributed province-wide this year.
Cochrane will receive $3.6M in Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) funding this year, as the 10-year MSI program launched in 2007 will continue — at least for now.
The funds have already been accounted for to go toward construction of Cochrane’s new aquatic/curling centre (which includes $24M in MSI, including allotments from future years of funding).
“The best thing about the MSI program is that the community can use it for what they see as a (local infrastructure) priority in their community,” said local MLA Cam Westhead, adding that the future of the MSI program is uncertain as of yet, with a pending review marked for the near future.
This is in conjunction with the current review of the Municipal Government Act (MGA) — the legislative framework that governs all municipalities across the province.
