Many local governments that have received economic stimulus funds hope the federal government will reconsider the project completion date, according to the chair of Island Coastal Economic Trust (ICET).
Gibsons Mayor Barry Janyk said he hopes there could be some flexibility with the March 30, 2011 deadline.
"It just makes sense because for many communities it will be an impossible target to meet," Janyk said during the recent Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC) annual conference. "I understand the purpose of having a firm deadline. It was to get money moving. It was stimulus money. I think by setting those hard deadlines, the federal government stated their case, but I think they'll probably have to reconsider as they go along."
Both Canadian Federation of Municipalities (CFM) and Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) are gathering information on the issue, Janyk said.
"Obviously, the federal government is interested to know whether or not it is attainable," he said. "On a personal note, I think setting a tough date like that is very onerous on the proponents, because many of the projects run into problems."
The problems tend not to be of their own making, he added.
"It could be because you can't get good labour, you can't get the proper labour, you have issues with supplies, materials back orders and of course the big one, where you get cold weather, is the weather itself," he said. "There are a number of factors that cause problems for the proponents. I would suggest to you that the federal government will likely reconsider the deadline. But at this point in time they are intransigent."
ICET was created by the provincial government in 2006 to help grow and diversify the economy of the North Island-Coast area by leveraging new investment and partnerships for economic opportunities. The province provided a $50 million endowment that is managed by an independent board of directors. The ICET region encompasses all regional districts and municipalities on Vancouver Island north of the Malahat as well as the Powell River and Sunshine Coast regional districts.
Al Baronas, executive director, said $5 million to $10 million of ICET's funds remain unallocated. However, it has $20 million worth of requests in its system.
"We are putting those requests through a careful review," Baronas said. "Then we will prioritize the requests, based on projects that have matching funds and can go forward very quickly. We don't want to be extending grants forever."
