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Feds announce funding for small craft harbour projects

Dollars invested in Madeira Park wharf, grid at Whiskey Slough, ongoing work on Gibsons wharf
Patrick Weiler funding
MP Patrick Weiler at the Gibsons Landing Harbour Authority office on July 30, announcing funds for small craft harbour projects on the Sunshine Coast.

A wharf in Pender Harbour will be getting an upgrade after the federal government announced $800,000 in funding for two new projects that will bring improvements to the small craft harbour by March 2023.

A portion of the Small Craft Harbour Program budget will be used to improve the electrical integrity and energy efficiency of the Madeira Park wharf, which is managed by the Harbour Authority of Pender Harbour. The second project will focus on removing and remediating the old boat grid in Whiskey Slough to improve marine environmental quality. 

Patrick Weiler, MP for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, announced the funding on July 30 on behalf of Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Bernadette Jordan.

The announcement was made in Gibsons Landing where, since the 2018 budget was announced, the harbour received more than $1 million in investments, Weiler said. He thanked the Pender Harbour and Gibsons Landing harbour authorities for their work managing the facilities. 

“Keeping our harbours in good operating condition is critical to the people who use them and the environment around them, which is why I'm pleased to announce these three investments for our communities,” Weiler said. 

“The work carried out under this project will not only renew and maintain the infrastructure that is essential to our region, it will also stimulate local job opportunities that will benefit fish harvesters and support our local communities.”

After the announcement, Gibsons Mayor Bill Beamish said he is pleased to see the work going forward on the Gibsons Landing wharf, and it will be finished before the end of the year.

Hiwus (chief) Warren Paull of the shíshálh Nation also attended the July 30 announcement, and said, “Every port authority has always been struggling and trying to make ends meet. Anything that enhances or augments such things for the commercial fishermen and the blue water fleet is a great thing, and we support it 100 per cent.”