The Municipal District of Opportunity No. 17 is handing out municipal grants to support upcoming local events, but politicians are making sure the tax dollars only go toward programs that welcome everyone.

During the regular council meeting on Aug. 10, council reviewed several community funding requests, including a major sponsorship for a youth sports program.

Joel Auger, the organizer of the “Warrior Within Me” summer camp, had previously presented a funding request to council during a delegation meeting in Sandy Lake. During that initial presentation, the council asked Auger to alter his program to make it fully inclusive for all local athletes.

The administration confirmed to the council that Auger agreed to the request. He updated the camp’s guidelines so that both Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth can now participate together.

Councillor Darlene Jackson said she was very pleased with the organizer’s willingness to adapt the event for the broader community.

“I am happy because he called me to say he changed the rules to be more inclusive,” Jackson said. “I already shared his poster, so I do not mind approving the grant money.”

Council unanimously approved a $7,500 grant for the summer camp. However, rather than having the municipality pay for a handful of specific children to attend for free, Jackson suggested the money be used to lower the barrier of entry for everyone.

“Instead of just allowing five people to get in for free, if we have 10 people from the municipality attending, I think it is fair to divide the money amongst everyone as a subsidy,” Jackson said.

Council agreed with the idea. The $7,500 grant will be divided equally among all municipal residents who register for the camp, acting as a flat subsidy to reduce the entry fee for every local family.

In addition to the sports camp, the municipality agreed to support a 10-day community gathering at Chip Lake running from Aug. 13 to 23.

Administration explained that the organizer requested municipal support to host the social gathering. The event is designed to help residents learn, share, and preserve traditional skills and knowledge. The original request asked the municipality to supply porta-potties, a power generator, temporary lighting, and daily water services.

While the council was happy to support the cultural event, they opted to heavily scale back the physical equipment they were providing to manage municipal resources.

Council passed a unanimous motion to provide a standard $2,500 community event donation and to supply six municipal porta-potties for the site. However, the municipality firmly denied the request to supply a generator and lighting.

“We are only giving her the money and the toilets,” an administration member said. “If our crews have time, we said we would drop a load of water. But there will be no generator and no lights.”

The public works department noted that if municipal water trucks happen to be driving past the Chip Lake area during the 10-day camp, staff would stop and fill up a water tank for the attendees.

Rounding out the community grants, council unanimously approved a $3,000 sponsorship to help fund a local women’s shelter golf tournament. Council noted that the charitable sporting event is completely open to everybody in the municipality.

During a roundtable discussion at the end of the meeting, Jackson thanked municipal staff and volunteers for their hard work in making a separate municipal golf tournament that past Friday a major success. She noted that these community tournaments bring people together and raise a significant amount of money for a good cause.

Armaan Khanna 

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter