P.E.I. ag programs up for communities funding
Prince Edward Island's government plans to flow some of the $13.7 million it will receive from the federal Community Development Trust toward agriculture programs. Premier Robert Ghiz and Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirmed P.E.I.'s share of the trust funding in a press release Monday. The federal government's $1 billion Community Development Trust, launched in January to be paid out to participating provinces on a per-capita basis over three years, is meant to support "transition, skills training and new job opportunities." So-called "one-industry" communities, as well as workers in sectors hit hard by recent economic events (the collapse of the U.S. housing market, the lower U.S. dollar, rising foreign competition), were expected to be the trust's main beneficiaries. P.E.I. said in its release that its share of the funding will go in part toward "assistance to promote environmental stewardship and advance new and sustainable diversification efforts in agricultural communities."