The Eastern King Sport Council will be able to hire a Regional Recreation Director thanks to funding announced from the governments of Canada and Prince Edward Island and the municipalities of Eastern Kings Region.

“The Capacity Building Fund is a wonderful initiative that focuses on assisting municipalities in long-term planning and establishing sustainability,” said the Honourable Allan Campbell, Minister of Innovation and Advanced Learning and MLA for the area, on behalf of the Honourable Carolyn Bertram, provincial Minister of Communities, Cultural Affairs and Labour. “In rural Prince Edward Island, we depend on local parks and recreation programs for the health and well-being of our families. This funding will allow the region to hire a full-time professional to establish a recreational plan for the area, work with local sports groups on how to incorporate new initiatives and, overall, create opportunities for residents to get more active. In addition, this is an excellent example of communities collaborating and working together for the betterment of all their residents.”

The federal Gas Tax funding of $75,620 will support the hiring the Regional Recreation Director for the first three years. The federal Gas Tax Fund provides support for infrastructure investments and capacity building efforts to help local governments to achieve and maintain long-term sustainability. The Sports and Recreation Division of the Department of Communities, Cultural Affairs and Labour have a Leadership Grant from which the community will seek to access $24,000 for the project. The remaining $43,800 will be funded by the three municipalities which make up the Eastern Kings Region: Souris, Souris West and Eastern Kings. These municipalities are planning to make this a permanent position, which will continue after three years of financial support from the governments of Canada and Prince Edward Island.

This project is important to assist communities in the area, as they work together, to enhance the quality of life for their residents. The communities have invested time to develop a Sport Council and committed money to assist with hiring a staff to work with them.

“After reviewing the needs assessment, provided from input from the community and council members, the number one need in the area was to hire a Regional Recreation Director,” said Steve O'Brien, Chair of Eastern Kings Sport Council. “I am very pleased with the contributions that community and government have made to this project, as it allowed us to secure funding for the next three years for this position.”

Through its unprecedented $33 billion Building Canada infrastructure plan, the Government of Canada extended the Gas Tax Fund by $2 billion a year for four years from 2010 to 2014. This investment is helping to build Canada's communities by providing predictable and long-term funding in support of long-term municipal planning and infrastructure that contributes to cleaner water, cleaner air and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

An important element of the Gas Tax Fund is to support municipalities in developing and implementing projects such as integrated community sustainability planning, land use assessments, studies for municipality-wide services, and building partnerships through collaboration. The Gas Tax Agreement is administered in Prince Edward Island by the Department of Communities, Cultural Affairs and Labour. Representatives from the Federation of PEI Municipalities, along with the Governments of Canada and Prince Edward Island, sit as members on the Agreement Management Committee.

For more information about federal and provincial infrastructure initiatives on Prince Edward Island, visit www.infc.gc.ca ou www.gov.pe.ca/go/infrastructure.

BACKGROUNDER

The Eastern Kings Sports Council, a group of volunteers who are committed to enhancing sport, recreation and physical activity in the region has been formed. The mandate of the Sport Council is “working with communities, groups, schools and individuals in Eastern Kings to encourage participation in and promote the benefit of sport, physical activity and recreation in a supportive environment at all levels.” They have become an incorporated body, have a terms of reference, have done some pilot projects, and have set priorities for the future in consultation with the community. As part of the community development process, both the Sport Council and community see the next step is to hire a “Regional Recreation Director” for the area to assist them in moving forward.

This new Director will work with Eastern Kings Sport Council to develop and implement an overarching recreation, sport and physical activity plan including development of new recreational events and specials events within Eastern Kings. They will be responsible to ensure this plan fits within priorities of county and province, as well as providing leadership, expertise and facilitation to residents of Eastern Kings working with various community organizations and clubs or by direct program delivery.

The communities in eastern part of Kings County have built capacity for sport, recreation and physical activity over the past few years; however, there is much more that needs to be done.

This project is important to assist communities in the area, as they work together, to enhance the quality of life for their residents. The communities have invested time to develop a Sport Council, committed money to assist with hiring staff to work with them, but they require this financial support to continue their work.

Why is this project important? PEI’s Physical Activity Levels (adults) is 41 %, which is the lowest in Canada; the Canadian Average is 49 % (Physical Activity Monitor 2004). This project will provide a plan for increasing activity levels in Eastern Kings, and put that plan into action.

Purpose of the project:

1. To ensure that the Eastern Kings Region is successful in collaborating to enhance physical activity, sport and recreation.

2. To hire a Regional Recreation Director to work with the Eastern Kings Sport Council to support a regional approach to recreation delivery.

3. To enhance and develop new partnerships with provincial sport bodies and community groups, to meet the needs of the residents in the area.

4. To work closely with community partners and government to develop priorities for sport, recreation and physical activity for the area.

5. To assist with reaching the target of 49% of Islanders meeting physical activity requirements by 2010 assigned by the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers responsible for physical activity.

6. To reduce the level of chronic disease within eastern kings area while at the same time improving the quality of life.