A5

BY TIM JAQUES

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Eel River Crossing - A list of the major funding made available to the Dalhousie-Restigouche East electoral district in 2007 and 2008 to date was made public at the Annual General Meeting of the Dalhousie-Restigouche East Liberal Association held in Eel River Crossing on April 27.

Enlarge Photo

Victor Boudreau

Some of the money was in the form of grants, while others were in the form of specific loans, or money made available for loans for business development.

"These are not all the projects," said Dalhousie-Restigouche East MLA and Minister of Natural Resources Donald Arseneault. "We hear a lot of what we are losing, but you have to look at what we are gaining."

"We've been in a pretty busy session in the Legislature in the last few months. We've had a lot of tough files that we have had to deal with. Whenever you talk about health care and post-secondary education, these are files that stir up a lot of emotion and tension in the debate. We feel that we are moving in the right direction." said Minister of Finance Victor Boudreau, the guest speaker for the evening.

"There has never been a government in the history of the world that has been able to please everybody, all the time. All you can do when you wake up in the morning is that you do the best that you can with what you have got at your disposal, and you hope that you are moving your province and your community forward," he said.

"We were here three weeks ago as a cabinet to show our solidarity with Don [Arseneault] and the communities in the area. Since then...there has been a deputy minister's committee in place as well, chaired by the Chief of Staff of the premier who is going to be making sure that the various files that have been identified by each department move forward and don't simply gather dust on shelf or on a desk somewhere."

Boudreau said that the government remains committed to making New Brunswick self-sufficient, and in order for that to happen, all regions of the province had to be self-sufficient, which is why the government was concentrating so much effort in the north.

After a secret ballot, Serge Noel was elected president of the Association.

In other business, a motion was made by Dalhousie lawyer Paul Hayes calling on the government to reconsider its plan to abolish early French immersion in New Brunswick, and to hold public consultations on the subject. Hayes said that he didn't want to embarass anyone but thought the matter warranted more consideration. The motion passed, and although it was not made unanimous, nobody present voted against it.

Provincial money 2007 for electoral district of Dalhousie Restigouche-East: Town of Dalhousie, $1,758,406; Village of Eel River Crossing, $60,000; LSD McLeods, $10,000; Dawnette Baton Twirlers, $14,000; Restigouche Regional Museum, $27,148; Village of Charlo, $58,000; Restigouche Country Club, $500,000; Fish hatchery, $50,000; Centre recreatif de Charlo, $2,000; Club Aventuriers de Charlo, $9,500; Jeux D'Acadie (regional committee), $7,500; Athletics NB, $45,128; Conseil de Developpement du Sport du Restigouche, $11,000; Recreaplex Dalhousie, $31,110; Association Regionale de Soccer Balmoral, $500; Dalhousie Regional High School, $133,700; Summer Splash, $1,000; Eel River Bar First Nation, $152,000; Bon Ami Festival, $1,500; Nuit International du Conte en Acadie, $19,375; Restigouche County Gun Association, $15,000; Festival International de Musique de Chambres de la Baie des Chaleurs, $12,000; Benjamin New Mills Sports Recreation Inc., $17,000; L.E.R. School, $15,000; Village of Balmoral, $22,000; Dalhousie Minor Soccer, $300; Dalhousie Golden Age Club, $2,000; Fete du Village de Charlo, $1,000; Club d'Age d'Or Eel River Crossing en Movement, $2,500; Regroupement des Intervenants Francophones, $2,000; Peanut Gallery, $500; Comite de la Patinoire Exterieure (Charlo), $2,000; Department of Transportation, $1,500,000. Total, $4,639,167

Grants 2008 for electoral district of Dalhousie-Restigouche East : Club des Aventuriers de Charlo, $15,450; Recreaplex, $2,900; Conseil Recreatif de Charlo, $2,000; Restigouche Regional Museum, $6,000; Department of Transportation, $7,740,000; Department of Education, $574,000; Voyages RE-Ber, $10,418.72; Balmoral sewerage project, $2,500,000; Restigouche East Community fund, $12,000,000; Dalhousie Transition Centre, $300,000; Palliative Care Beds, $500,000; Dalhousie Capital Project (Library and Recreaplex) $300,000; Dalhousie Community Market, $836,500; Wharf repairs, $500,000. (The last two were announced the day after the meeting) Total $25,287,268.72